Close to Freedom
by xsoulessxgingerx
Summary: Jerome's dark past and home life are revealed to the house when his sister, Laura, comes to visit. Warnings inside. JARA in later chapters.
1. Surprise Visit

**Hey guys :D Finally starting a new story, hope you enjoy it. It's set in House of Anubis a little bit before all the drama. Basically, a bit into the story line where Jerome finally came around and started being a spy for the kids and Rufus gets a bit more threatening with him.**

**Warnings: Profane language, violence, and child abuse in later chapters**

**Disclaimer: God, I wish I owned Jerome . . . but I don't, it's all someone else. I own nothing but Laura and Mason.**

P.O.V Jerome

God is it cold out this morning. I grip my bag tight as I head off to school. I'm walking alone. Even Alfie ditched me for his new friends. I guess they're not all bad, they're helping me escape a psychopath, but honestly, it wouldn't kill them to step up and be the bigger man, or er, woman, I guess. They act like if they talk to me I'm going to bite their heads off. And Amber's still mad at me for the fake spider I left under her pillow.

I smirk to myself. The King of Pranks, I guess that title I've earned myself. I pride myself in it most of the time. I guess it's just the way I pass the time. It makes me feel better when people feel worse than I do . . . and that's not easily done. I find it hard to feel happy here, or at home really. I'm not really familiar with the word home in the first place. It's escaped me all these years. I know I have a tough outer shell, I guess know one's really stuck around long enough to know the real me, to hammer open the outer part of me and see what I'd really be like if I hadn't been rotting away in this damn school. Even Alfie barely knows me as well as he thinks he does.

Now things have gotten even more complicated than they were before. This thing with Rufus, and the cup and what not. I don't know what I'll get out of it, but I'll say something, I didn't risk my neck for nothing. This cup better be worth a shitload. They don't tell me much. No, of course not, they don't trust me enough to do that at all. Not that I blame them, I'd probably double cross them in a minute if they weren't saving my life. I guess I don't trust easy either. It's just something you grow up with.

I'm alert this morning, my blue eyes scanning almost everything around me. I've been on my toes a lot lately since all this happened. I don't know when Rufus will just show up and demand something from me. Honestly, the guys pathetic, chasing around these damn worthless pieces all his life. Get a life, you creep. Of course, I'd never tell him that, because I value the air I breathe. They guy may be crazy, but I'm sure he could kill me if he really wanted to.

The school house is getting closer now. I guess time flies when you get lost in your own thoughts. I let my shoulder sag a bit and loosen my grip on my bag. I'm safe here, for the most part. The teachers may be cult-loving crazy people, but they didn't want trouble with the authorities or our parents. They still had a duty to keep us safe. Although I don't know how that played into the whole deal with Trixie's kidnapping.

My first class was English. Perfect, the whole gang will be there. When I entered the room, Nina and Fabien both found themselves staring at me. Maybe they want me to sit with them, but I doubt it, so I sit with Alfie in the back.

He gives me a friendly smile, "How's it going, mate?"

It's hard to be mean to him, but my angers flaring behind my eyes."It'd be better if I didn't have death sentence on my head."

His eyes were filled with pity now. "It'll all be over soon, ya?"

I nod. _Lies._

Annoyance seems to stalk me all day. Whenever Mrs. Andrews asks me a question I have to grind my teeth as to not snap at her. During break, Alfie ditches me for the gang again for some stupid secret meeting I guess. I should probably go, but I sit down with Mara and Mick instead, wanting to take my plastic fork to my eyes every time they cuddle or kiss. Mick's a nice guy and all, but the way Mara swoons over him makes me sick.

Mara looks at me, concerned. "Are you alright, Jerome? You look a bit ill."

I look down at my shoes and mumble a quiet, "yeah."

Mick stared down at me sternly. "Maybe you should go to the infirmary, mate. You haven't been looking good all day."

I shake my head, making my hair fall in my eyes. "I'm just tired," I answer, not looking up.

I can tell that Mara and Mick are giving each other a look of doubt. I don't expect them to care so much. No one ever does.

I chew my sandwich slowly, mulling over the day. It's been going by slowly, mostly uneventful. Everyone's acting strange: quiet and withdrawn. Maybe it's just the weather. My next class is drama and then we get to go back to the house. I suppose we'll probably just hang out it in the living room and wait for dinner. Maybe we'll catch a game on the TV if the cable's working again, but I doubt it because Victor's far too cheap to spend money for our enjoyment.

By the time we get back, Trudy's waiting for us with snacks, greeting us and asking us about our day. I take an apple and slump on the couch with Alfie on one side and Trixie on the other.

Amber flips her hair and sits down opposite us. "Daddy called and told me he booked me a trip to Spain this summer. I can't wait to go to the beach." She smiles and stares at her nails.

I grin, "Yeah that should be interesting. Amber, do you have any idea what percentage of Spain's beaches are nude beaches?"

By this she looks utterly appalled."Ew."

I snicker and everyone joins in. Everyone seems to be warming up now.

Amber scowls, "Oh yeah? And what are you doing with your summer, Jerome, if you know everything better."

I hesitate and the smile drops from my face. I don't want to think what I'll be doing with my summer. Summers mean that I have to go home to my family and spend a whole two and a half months with them. Two and a half months of disappointed glances, putdowns, and of course my dad, who always has a more physical way of punishing me. Then there are my siblings of course. Laura's just turning 15 now, I think. She's a brainiac, taking all advanced courses, and skipping a couple grades. Then there's Mason. He's dad's little superstar. He's only 13, but dad thinks he's right on his way to Wimbledon with the way he plays tennis. And then there's me. Lowly Jerome who can't even make his own parents love him, and they're obligated to. I suppose I'm the black sheep of the family, which is probably why dad sent me here when I was five.

Patricia (Trixie) puts a hand on my shoulder. She's not usually the sensitive type, but her eyes reflect deep concern. The whole room is staring at me now. I froze up after Amber asked her question.

"Are you alright?" Trixie's voice pierces the silence.

I look up at her and smile weakly, "Yeah, I think you guys were right. I am feeling a bit sick now."

Patricia rubs my back and settles back down. There's a murmur around the room, but for the most part no one objects. We talk for nearly another hour before we go our separate ways. I copy my science homework off of Alfie without him noticing, and then start playing video games while he finishes up. There's a knocking at the door at around six that surprised everyone. Fabien and Mick make their way to our room in confusion as we hear Victor stepping slowly down the stairs to answer it.

Fabien jabs a thumb behind him, "Was anyone expecting visitors?" He asks, confused.

Both Alfie and I shake our heads simultaneously. With that we sit and wait.

I hear sturdy door open, "Ah, Ms. Clark, we've been expecting you for some time now. I hope you flight was alright."

I freeze. _Ms. Clark? As in my sister? As in Laura? What the hell is she doing here? She hasn't seen me since last summer. We're not even that close_. My breath gets caught in my throat and I dare no blink. This cannot be happening. Not here, not now. I don't have to go back to them for some time now, why do they have to bring the nightmare to me.

"Mr. Clark!" Victors voice rings throughout the hall and I cringe. Of course, nothing stays private at Anubis House. The girls were at the top of the stairwell, and Alfie, Mick, and Fabien stood at the end of the hallway, watching the events unfold.

She's taller than she was last time, and prettier, if that's possible. She's the spitting image of our mom, just with fewer wrinkles. Her long blond hair reminds me a lot of Amber's and her blue eyes are identical to mine.

"Jerome!" She pulls me into a hug, her head just touching my chin. I feel stiff. At first I don't react, but I feel too bad to not do anything so I wrap my arms around her. She finally pulls away after a minute. _Thank God._

"What are you doing here?" My voice is surprisingly cold and my vocal chords feel tight as I push out the question.

It only fazes her slightly. "I'm here to visit you, of course."

My face stays like stone, "You haven't bothered to visit in the past 12 years **(for the record in this story, he's 17)** and now all of a sudden you think it'd be jolly if you came all the way across England to come see me? Sorry, but I'm not buying it." I cock a eyebrow.

She sighs, "Well this time it's different. Mom and dad are away on business and-."

I cut her off, muttering, "Of course they are," under my breath.

She stares at me for a minute. "Like I was saying, they're away on business and I have break so they sent me here for a couple of weeks. They didn't want to leave me home alone."

I laugh, "Right, because little Ms. Perfect isn't up to their standards or responsible to stay home by herself."

"Believe it or not, I asked them to send me here."

"And they said yes?"

She nodded, "After a lot of convincing."

I eyed her suspiciously, "Where's Mason?"

"Training camp."

It all made sense, but I still didn't like it.

"Jerome," Mara says, "Aren't you happy to see you sister." The girls start to descend the staircase now.

"Of course I am," I sigh. I can't make up an excuse without revealing the whole truth so I shut my mouth.

Mara holds out her hand to Laura, "I'm Mara, Jerome's friend." _Friend. What an empty word._ She gestures around to everyone else. "The goofy one in the back is Alfie, that's Fabien, and that's my boyfriend, Mick." She smiles when she says that and I roll my eyes, but no one seems to notice. "The blonde lookalike over there is Amber, the sulky one's Patricia, and that's Nina, the American."

Laura seemed overwhelmed and waved to everyone, flashing an award winning smile.

Victor finally took Laura to her room so she could put her bags away, but only minutes later Trudy called us all for dinner. I tensed up again. This should be an interesting dinner conversation, listening to Laura brag for a whole half an hour. That's exactly what I needed.

**Kay so that's it for now, maybe I'll put up another chapter later today.**

**R&R **

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	2. So This Is What a Holiday Feels Like

**Ok, so four reviews already? Sweet. Here's another chapter, I hope you all enjoy. I'm leaving on vacation Friday, so I can't update, but maybe the weather on the lake will inspire me ;) Anyway, I'll try to update on Friday before I leave if I get around to it**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything except for my two OCs. But wouldn't it be cool if I did? I could get a new laptop, and get my own house, and have a life . . . **

P.O.V. Jerome (again)

Trudy set out a bigger dinner than usual, and dragged up another chair from the closet. She put out baked chicken, mashed potatoes, squash, and a hearty salad. It almost felt like a holiday dinner, now that my sister was here. If only holidays with my family could be pleasant, then maybe I would be enjoying myself right now. I sit at my usual seat, which is straight across from where Laura will be sitting. Everyone joins us very quickly.

"Dig in, everybody!" Trudy says joyfully before clapping her hands together and walking back into the kitchen to clean up the mess the cooking had made.

I slap a big serving of mashed potatoes and chicken onto my plate, as everyone else does the same. I don't think Laura understands that here, if you didn't serve yourself, you won't eat. She quickly notices that she's sticking out from the rest of us, and god forbid she do anything different, so she joins in. I stab my fork into the meat and cut off a chunk. Every jester seems to be fueled by anger. My senses are dull and a headache is working itself up to full priority. Could this day get any worse?

Nina clears her throat nervously at the awkward silence that seems to be mixed with tension. "Um, so Laura, where do you go to school?"

Laura quickly finishes chewing to answer, "Um, well I just go to our local high school. No fancy boarding school like Jerome, but I take most of my classes at the local community college. I've been studying abroad in France for the last half of the semester though."

Nina looks almost taken aback. Of course who wouldn't, a perfect 15 year old in college isn't someone you met every day. "Wow, how old did you say you were again?"

"I didn't," Laura says politely, and smiles, "But I'm 15 as of July. Jerome was home to celebrate, weren't you Jerome?" She looks at me. Her eyes are so honest and pure. I know she doesn't mean to intrude and she can't help who she was, but the constant thought that she has ruined my life just keeps pressing at the back of my eyes.

"Um, was I?"

She nods.

I know perfectly well that I'd been home for her birthday. I also remember when she went out to dinner with her friends and my dad threatened that he'd kick the crap out of me if I didn't start behaving and being more polite around her and her friends. Of course, she doesn't know that, and I'm not about to tell her.

"Must've slipped my mind."

Silence. God it's killing me. Couldn't we carry on a half decent conversation just for this one dinner. I look around the dinner table, but everyone seems to think that their food is much more interesting than talking.

Mara finally speaks up, "So, Jerome, you never told us you had a sister." There's that smile again, making shivers go down my spine.

"Um, yeah, I just forgot I guess."

Mara gestures towards my sister, "Well it's lovely to meet you anyway. I always thought that Jerome was an only child, what how he talked about his parents leaving him her to-."

"To study hard." I cut in awkwardly and grin guiltily. "Anyone hungry? " I ask shoveling more potatoes onto my plate. "I'm starving." I give a look to Mara and then to my sister that basically says, _Keep you mouths shut!_

Sure Mara, and Laura know about my family, or at least Mara thinks she does, but no one else does and I sure don't need anyone's pity or anyone to be prying in my personal life.

Fabien look suspiciously around the table, "OK… So Laura, where are you parents on business?"

I stood up suddenly, "You know what, I'm not really hungry anymore. Actually, I'm not feeling so well right now so I'll see you later." I hurry down to my room before someone can tell me otherwise and take a seat on my bed. I usually can keep everything about my home life bottled up inside me all semester and not think about it, but with Laura being here, it's impossible. I don't want to think about it if I don't have to.

After dinner, Alfie comes in to join me. "Hey mate, you feeling better?"

I wring my hands together so hard that it hurts. "Er, yeah I feel a lot better."

"Good," He says grinning and slaps me on the back playfully. I flinch away from his touch, even with the friendly intentions behind it. He doesn't seem to notice. There's casual silence as we settle in to the evening. The door opens and Fabien steps in as well.

"What are you guys up to?" He asks.

"Um . . . We usually play cards. You can . . . um . . . join if you want to." Alfie give him a suspicious look, finishing his sentence slowly.

"Thanks." He says, taking a seat on the floor.

Ok, even I have to admit this is a bit odd. Fabien doesn't usually hang around with us. He's more of one of those quiet guys that kind of hangs around with the girls. It seems as though he's just kind of always been in the background. Alfie and I are the pranksters, Mick's the Jock, Amber's the pretty (and dumb) one, Mara's the smart one, Patricia's the hardcore one, Nina's the sweet American, and Fabien's . . . well Fabien's Fabien, I guess.

"I don't mean to bother you guys, but Mick's getting it on with Mara in the living room, and I'd rather not be there. I also don't want to spend another night sitting alone in my room." He eyes us like a pathetic puppy. God, it's so hard to say no to this kid.

"No problem, mate." I say, joining him on the floor.

Alfie still looks unsure, but he deals the cards anyway. It's awkwardly silent at first, but we get into small talk about crap that happened during the day, things that I haven't been able to get off my chest all day.

Fabien looks at me while Alfie's taking his turn. "So, Jerome, you don't seem too happy to see your sister. Do you guys not get along?"

I sigh, playing with the cards in my hand nervously. "I-it's not that exactly. I love my sister, I really do . . . but there's things a-at home, um, that have been tough on all of us. We just, I guess, don't have the best family relationship." It's hard to explain without completely telling him every secret of my past that I've been trying to keep from everyone at Anubis House.

Fabien nods slowly, I don't think he understands completely, but he doesn't have to. As long as he stops prying. The chatter stops for a while. God, the things I'd rather be doing right now. Braiding hair with the girls, doing chores with Trudy, dunking my head in the toilet, they all seem like exceptionally good options.

Finally, Alfie speaks up. "Jerome, mate, you're sisters hot."

I look at him with disgust for a moment before rolling my eyes, dropping my cards, and exiting the room. Will this day never fucking end?

Back in the room, Alfie looks at Fabien, completely clueless. "Was it something I said?"

Fabien shrugs.

Mara and Mick must have left because the sofas empty. I'm about to take a seat when I see Laura in the kitchen, grabbing an apple. I quickly spin on my heels, making my way to where I came from like a small child.

"Jerome, wait."

I curse under my breath, but walk to join her in the kitchen. The last thing I want to do right now is get into an argument with her, but it seems as though there'll be no avoiding it tonight.

"What?" Surprisingly, my voice is cold and stale, I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh.

"I just don't get it, big bro," God I hate it when she calls me that, "I've been here not even all of one day and your already getting annoyed with me. The only reason I came was to spend time with you. Come one Jer."

I let my shoulder go limp, "Laura, I'm not annoyed with you. I just . . . I just want my home life to stay at home, ok?"

"What? So you don't even want me to visit?"

"No, you're not getting me. Every time I come home, you have better things to do. And now all of a sudden you show up here expecting a warm welcome?"

Laura looks up at me sadly, "I'm sorry, Jerome, but-."

I cut her off, "Stop it."

She looks confused, "Stop what?"

"Acting like this! Stop saying you're sorry when it's not your fault and coming here and screwing this up here for me here too."

"Jerome, I didn't mean to interrupt your school year, I just thought that if I visited you here everything would be normal."

"Because back home things aren't normal?"

"Well, yes, but I just don't like it. The way mom and dad act around me, and especially around you when you visit. How they spoil me and expect me to be perfect."

I growled in frustration, "Look at yourself, Laura! You don't have to try to be perfect! You are perfect. Everything about you is perfect! Why do you think I ended up in this hellhole, huh?"

Laura had tears welling up in her eyes, "Jerome, I'm sorry-."

"Stop saying you're sorry! I've just had it, ok? I can't even go home unless I have to because I don't feel safe there anymore, ok? Because mom and dad already have two perfect children in their midst. They sent me here when I was five! When they have guests over, they tell me that they only have two children. They hate it when I come to visit! You and Mason can do all you like, it's fine, but if I slip up even the slightest bit then our own fricken dad beats the crap out of me. How would that make you feel?" I stop in mid-rant because Laura wraps her arms around me, tears flowing freely, making my shirt wet.

"Jerome," She says between sobs, "I know dads hard on you, but don't you think that if I could change it I would?"

The truth is, I know she would. I know she doesn't like the way dad treats me, but that isn't doing jack shit for me, is it? It only took a few years after Laura was born to send me off. I was a disappointment to the family. They sent me off to this boarding school because they wanted to wipe me off the map for as long as possible in the year. They don't care what happens to me, they left me here to rot.

I inhale deeply, "I'm sorry, Laura, I know this isn't your fault. I just thought that if there was any place where I could escape home, it'd be here. I didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome."

She draws away from me, "I'd never do anything to hurt you intentionally, you know that."

When I say nothing, she smiles and heads out the kitchen door. I'm glad to see that we didn't draw a crowd. I don't want anyone to hear any of the things that have just been said. My headache is back, pounding against my skull, like fists.

_It's not her fault._ I tell this to myself over and over again. Maybe one day I'll actually believe it. I'd never tell her this, because I suppose, directly, she had nothing to do with my whole situation. But just the fact that she was born is why mom and dad sent me away. If they hadn't tried for a second child, maybe I would have been good enough for them. Maybe they would have loved me then if they had no one to compare me to. A boy can only dream, right?

A yawn escaped me and I peeked at the grandfather clock that was staring back at me in the hallway. Almost 10 o'clock, and I was exhausted. Of course, I didn't have the balls to go back to my room. I was far too afraid what questions Alfie and Fabien would make me answer. No, I'll just find an alternative and later when they're asleep I'll creep back in to my room.

I curl up on the sofa, which is a bit too short for my long legs. And lay my head down on the cushion. This day has been so eventful that I'd almost completely forgotten about the whole drama with Rufus. It was nice to not have to think about death threats for a whole day. I let my mop of hair fall into my eyes. Maybe if I just sleep for five minutes my headache will go away. Maybe the hurt will chase away the nightmares.

**R&R Thanks for reading guys, hope you liked it **

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	3. Never Have I Ever

**Alright so last chapter for a little while cause I'll be on vacation, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Same as last chapter **

**jenc0449: haha ya I have a bunch of friends who just started calling me that and I don't even think they know my real name anymore. And thanks :D**

**izzi08: thanks XD I want to try and put some romance in it, but it's hard with Mick being around**

P.O.V Jerome (yes, again)

I wake up sore and uncomfortable. I was wrong, the headache did nothing to keep the nightmares from coming, but at least the headache went away while I was sleeping. I open my eyes and try to shield myself from the sunlight. _God, why is it so light in my room?_ I groan and attempt to sit up. The clock in the hallway chimes loudly. 9 O'clock. Already? It seems as though the sounds of the clock are much close than usual. It is only then that I realize that I'm still on the couch in the living room. _Did I really sleep here all night?_ My back groans in protest as I pull myself up.

"Jerome?"

I look up to see Trixie standing over me. She takes a long look at me wrinkled clothes and my messy hair.

"Have you been sleeping here all night?"

I looked around, eyeing my surroundings. The kitchen, the television, the horrible taste in furniture and decorations. Yep, I was definitely not in my own room anymore. I look up at her eyes, wide, trying to look more innocent than I really am. "Uh, yeah I guess I did." I shrug and bring myself to my feet. The mattresses at school aren't exactly comfortable, but this sofa must be ancient. Victor is so cheap.

She smiles, but still looks slightly concerned, "Has your insomnia been playing up at all"?

Trixie's the only one that knows about my insomnia in the whole house. When we were smaller I used to sit in the laundry room and watch the washing machine go round and round. Sometimes she'd wake up and come join me if she had trouble falling asleep. But that was a long time ago. I've become harder since then, meaner and cold, and we grew apart.

"No, everything's good."

With that said she walks off into the kitchen to find Trudy. It's Saturday, so I suppose we'll have to make our own breakfast. Trudy usually goes shopping Saturday mornings. For some reason, I don't have much of an appetite, so I grab a granola bar from one of the cupboards and take a seat at the table. Nina comes walking into the door first, and slowly, but surly, the rest of Anubis House follows. Fabien and Alfie don't mention anything about last night, so I don't pry. Last to walk in is my sister. She gives me a knowing eye, but doesn't stop to talk to me. We all settle down to eat breakfast together.

Trudy comes bustling through the door. "Alright, children, I'm going shopping," She says in her normal peppy voice, "Now, Victor's with Mr. Sweet and the other teachers in a conference that should last till noon. I'll only be gone a couple hours. If you break anything in this house Victor will have your heads, so be responsible!"

We all nodded in agreement, hiding our immense excitement. The last time we'd been left alone in the house was the Great Sewage Incident of '09, and I have a feeling that Trudy was worried it'd be repeated. How were me and Alfie supposed to know that the pipes are flimsy? Trudy gives me a stern look before she leaves.

Laura's gaze instantly lands on me, "Why was she looking at you?" She asks suspiciously.

I grin the mischievously, "Let's just say last time we were left alone we made a big splash."

Alfie snickers, "I still can't believe Victor was mad at that. It was hardly more than a spill."

I look at him with a confused look, "Alfie, we had to repaint the whole kitchen."

"Who knew garbage disposals couldn't handle Victor's hold toupee."

This time we all laughed.

"You know, we haven't had time to ourselves in a while." Amber looked around, a big grin on her face, "Let's play a game."

I groan. The last time we all played a game, it was truth or dare and Trixie made me run all the way around campus in a dress. I don't think I'll ever live it down.

"Come on everybody; make a circle on the floor! We're playing never have I ever." Amber gets up springing like a little girl.

"As long as it doesn't involve lady's clothing, I think Jerome might play." Fabien jokes as he joins everyone else on the floor.

"Ha ha," I say sarcastically, not backing down from a challenge.

"Ok everybody!" Amber says in a loud voice, "Five fingers!"

I sigh; this is going to be an interesting two hours. Kill me now.

"I'll go first," Says Amber, "Never have I ever worn boxers." She looks around at us expectantly.

All of the boys put a finger down . . . and so does Trixie.

"What?" She snaps, "I grew up with 6 brothers, ok." She leans back, huffing with anger.

"Okay," Says Amber raising her eyebrows. "Nina, I guess you're next."

She looks around innocently. "Um, never have I ever gotten drunk." She shrugs.

"Really?" Trixie asks, but seems quite unsurprised. This time it's only me, Mick, Alfie, and Trixie who put our fingers down.

Laura eyeballs me, "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

I shoot her a glare, "Shut up!" I snap.

Everyone looks in my direction, but I keep my eyes down and don't make eye contact. Truth was, at home sometimes I had a bit of a drinking problem. If the tension was too much or I just wanted to get out of the house, a lot of the times I went to a party. But if my parents were still up when I got home at like three in the morning, god, was there hell to pay. Sure sometimes I went a bit overboard. Maybe that's why Laura made the comment in the first place. She really hates it when I drink. She says it changes people. Apparently she hasn't seen dad.

Mick's next. "Never have I ever smoked. I'd be kicked off the team if I did."

This time it was only me who put a finger down. And again, everyone's eyes were on me. I swore under my breath, but I guess people were searching for some explanation.

"It was just a habit I picked up one summer. I hung out with a bunch of stoners."

"You're joking, right?" Fabien said in disbelief.

"You don't still, you know, smoke, right?" Asked Laura, "I thought you'd quit."

I shrugged and looked down on my feet. "Every now and then, I guess."

"Wow, you learn something every day," Mara says, still surprised.

"Your turn, Alfie!" Says Amber after a moment of awkward silence.

"Alright, um, never have I ever taken an advanced course," he says grinning.

This time all of us, but Mick and Amber put a finger back down.

"I don't think that's something to be proud of, Alfie . . ." Says Mara, but he just grins.

Great I'm down to just one finger. Another game that I'll be glad to just end, but a better record would be nice. I think I liked truth or dare better. At least there I could always pick dare and I didn't have to have anything reveled about my life. At lease it was my turn now.

I got straight to it, "Never have I ever gone home for April break."

This time everybody put one finger down.

"Wait, you've really never been home, like at all for April break?" Fabien asks.

I shake my head.

"You had to stay here with Victor while we were off partying? Mate, that sucks." Alfie looks at me, slightly concerned.

I nod again. "It's not that bad. Trudy cooks lots of extras." I grin. I don't want to instill any pity on myself through this dumb game. I just want to finish this damn game.

Finally, it's Mara's turn. "Never have I ever gotten into a physical fight with anyone."

And that was my last finger. "You really must hate me." I say grinning.

We end the game then and there just because I lost and go our separate ways. We were never that close anyway. I guess it's hard for us to be together for very long since we see each other all day. Trudy comes home sooner than expected so we have to split anyway. I feel odd revealing so much about me. My head feels like it's going to explode again so I go to my room.

I dig through my drawer until I come up with a lighter and a box of cigarettes, which are already half empty. I haven't smoked in a couple of months, but the stress and that god damn game reminded me why I started in the first place.

Behind the house, no one's around, so I lean against the wall and light one up. My stress level is almost through the roof right now. I don't know how I'm going to get through the rest of the week with Laura here. And with another break coming up soon, I'm guessing Laura would take me back home with her for a weekend. And so the torture begins.

**Alright so it's a lot shorter, I know, sorry. Writers block. This was just a chapter I wanted to sandwich in between the last one and a revealing chapter between Laura and Mara next chapter ;D Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	4. The Truth

**Alrighty. I wrote this over vacation, but I didn't have any internet to upload it. Hope you guys like it :D I hope it's not too rushed, because I was running out of battery on my laptop when I wrote this.**

P.O.V Mara

The day drags on today unbelievably slow. I try several things when Trudy comes back from her shopping to keep myself busy. I blogged for a short while on my laptop, my interest for that ran out rather quickly. I played cards with Nina, but she's awful at it. I even helped Amber reorganize her closet. And through all this I only managed to waste two hours. Mick went to training practice after our short game this morning. He should be back by now, but I guess he's putting in some extra hours. He has a tryout for a private school focused on sports teams up North. It's quite a ways away from here. I love him, and of course want the best for him, but secretly I hope that he doesn't get in. It wouldn't be the same not having him here. Maybe he'll decide not to accept it and stay here with me. Anubis House isn't the greatest place, but the education isn't bad.

I've been sitting on the couch now for nearly a half an hour. Most weekends at least we get somewhat of company from the other houses, but a lot of them have house arrest because of a food fight that apparently no one wants to own up to. I'd go for a walk with one of my house mates, but at noon the clouds drew over the sun and it's been pouring ever since. I find a strange interest in taking a quick nap. Hopefully no one will miss me, I doubt they will anyway and Mick will wake me when he gets back. I stir and make for the stairs.

When I cross the hallway to the stairs, the door opens. I turn to it, hoping to see Mick and greet him, but a much taller blonde shuts the door behind him instead. Seeing me, he stuffs something into his pocket, gives me somewhat of a sad smile, and heads down the hall to his room. I wave at his kind gesture. Inhaling at he walks by, I frown. He smells like smoke. So he wasn't lying earlier today. I feel a certain rage as he passes. It's an awful habit to get into, it really is. My dad died a couple years ago. He developed lung cancer, but he had always been a heavy smoker, started when he was 16 years old. It's really a shame, but the sorrow has come and gone.

On the way up the stairs I bump into Laura, who seems to barely notice. She's almost as out of touch with the world as Jerome is. There's something off about those two, maybe that family in particular. The way Jerome acted when she came to visit, the distance between them, and the escalating sadness that seems to have taken over Jerome. I follow her with my eyes as she heads towards the kitchen. Sighing, I descend the stairs once more. Jerome hasn't been all too friendly to her on her vacation. Maybe I should have a quick chat with him.

His bedroom door is closed, but not locked, so I twist the handle. I should have knocked, I usually do, but I feel as though he doesn't deserve the privacy. I instantly regret my decision. What I find on the other side of the doorway makes me freeze up. Jerome is changing his shirt, not facing me. I'm staring straight at his bare back, which is covered in an array of white scars, some fresher than others. There aren't too many of them, but they look awfully deep. With my breath still stuck in my throat, I shut the door and inhale deeply. What was that?

Before I have time to fully assess the situation at hand, I sprint to the kitchen, searching frantically for Laura. I run into her on the way out of the dining room. She seems surprised at the look of shock in my eyes.

"Hi Mara." She says, a look of confusion overtaking her.

Out of breath I turn to her, "we need to talk. Now."

She seems somewhat taken aback by my sheer demand, but nods slowly. I take her to my bedroom and shut the door quietly, locking it. I'm sure Patricia won't need to come up for some time, so I don't hypothesize an interruption.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asks, calmly.

I take a seat across from her on my bed. My mind is still spinning. "I just accidentally walked in on Jerome while he was changing his shirt."

Now she looks even more confused, "Oh, um, that's nice." She says awkwardly.

I shake my head, "No you don't understand. I saw his back. The scars, I'm guessing you know about them."

Laura looks down at the bedspread, not making eye contact. She doesn't say anything, so I continue.

"Want I want from you, is to tell me what they're from."

"What do you think?"

"What do I think? I don't know what they're from; I just find it suspicious that he's hiding this from everyone. There must be something behind them worth hiding"

She is silent for another moment, but finally speaks up. "Who."

"What?"

"Who they're from, not what they're from." She corrects me.

"What are you suggesting? That someone did that to him?"

Laura looks extremely uncomfortable, shifting her position slightly, "Jerome really wouldn't want me to tell you about this." She said, still somewhat unsure.

I look at her sternly, "There's a reason I came to you and not him, yeah? I won't tell him anything. I swear." It's a childish thing to propose, but I suppose my curiosity and my concern get the better of me.

Laura takes a deep breath before continuing. "Alright," She says, halting for another pause. "It all started when I was born."

I listen intently to what she has to say, not wanting to miss a single detail.

"We were completely different from one another, me and Jerome. He liked to cause trouble and he was active for all his childhood. Mom had always wanted a girl, and when I came along, certainly being calmer than he was, she basically had her proof that girls were better. And then our little brother, Mason, came along a couple years later. He, again, showed more promise than Jerome, he was better behaved and had a huge interest in tennis just like our father, as where Jerome hated sports."

She glances up at me to see if I'm still listening. Of course I am.

"Mom and dad were thrilled. Two perfect children. But then there was their oldest son, the troublemaker. He acted out continuously just to get more attention, and nothing ever helped. They sent him to daycares and summer camps and other family members. Anything they thought of, they tried. When finally, when he was five, they seemed to have enough. They still had two other young children to deal with and I guess they just got fed up with him. They sent him to boarding school the first chance they got. They wiped out every memory of him that they had. Pictures, scrap books, videos, whatever they found, they hid."

She takes a pause in between again. Jerome had told me about his parents and them wanting to get rid of him, but I'd never expected it to be this bad, or even for this reason. It made me feel especially sad inside. He really was alone.

Laura continues, "Of course, he still had to come home for breaks and stuff. They mostly ignored him. I was so young when it started that I really didn't understand anything. If I acted selfishly as a kid, he'd knock me down or steal my toy. Of course I'd cry, and mom and dad became even more enraged with him than they already were."

I cut in, "You guys don't seem to get along very well."

Laura shrugs, "We love each other, we really do, it's just, I guess he's somewhat jealous. And I don't blame him for it! I've just always had it so much easier than him."

I nod for her to continue with her story.

"Anyway, by the time he turned, 11, I think it was, everything got so much worse. He started coming home later when he was home for a break, sometimes he'd sleep in the park if it suited him better."

My eyes widen. I couldn't imagine spending the night outside by myself at such a young age.

"The first morning, when he came home from sleeping on a park bench, our parents were furious. I saw it with my own eyes, they weren't truly all too worried about him, they just didn't want to get in trouble with the authorities."

I was confused now. I knew that he had a troubled childhood, but I didn't understand what this had to do with anything.

"That's the first time that dad hit him."

I almost gasped out of surprise. Jerome was an abuse case? He never even told me. I thought we were truly pretty close. Laura had a look of deep melancholy reflecting in her gaze. It seemed as though she really didn't want to recall the memories.

"I don't remember all too much about our childhood, but that day I'll never forget. He walked around with a bruise on his cheek for more than a week."

She pauses again, collecting the strength to continue talking.

"It kept getting worse from there on out. Whenever he'd come home, there really wasn't anything he could do right. He slouched too much, or he swore, or he was impolite, or he addressed him with dad instead of sir. What you saw on his back is what happened when Jerome came home from his first party, completely stoned. My dad woke him up the next morning and took a belt to his back. He never fought back. Not once."

I was in utter shock, "Does this, you know, I mean, still happen?"

Laura nods slowly, "He'd never raise a finger against me or Mason, but whenever Jerome's home, that's when it all starts. When he was younger, he'd fight back. They'd scream at each other and then end up getting into a fist fight, but I think even Jerome realized that it just made dad angrier and hit harder, so he stopped. It's an awful thing to witness."

I still said nothing.

"Listen, Mara, you have to promise me that you won't speak a word of this to Jerome right now, yeah? He really doesn't want to talk about it to anyone. He feels as though you'll look at him differently."

"I won't."

Laura sighs, "I just feel guilty, and maybe that's why we don't get along. I've never done anything to help him, no matter how much me and Mason really hate what happens at home."

I smile grimly, "Well, he hates me. Ever since this whole campaign, he won't really speak to me anymore."

She looks at me carefully. "Mara, Jerome's a difficult guy to understand, he's harsh and cold, but he could never hate you. He could never hate anyone. Trust me, I know him well. He just doesn't trust easy. And if he does, then it's easy to for him to stop trusting someone even for the slightest slip up. He'll come around, you'll see." She puts a hand on my arm, trying to comfort me.

I look up at her, "You really think so?"

"Of course! I know my brother better than anyone. He'll come around. He just needs time."

Right now, I'm truly not sure what to think. I really need time to think all this over. I suppose in some ways, Jerome is right, I see him in a different like now, but it's not a bad one, it's just a more sensitive one.

"Maybe you're right," I say smiling.

"Trust me."

**What do you think? I wanted to the style to sound different in Mara's perspective, but I think I may have failed a little bit. Happy Reading **

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	5. Not What I Was Expecting

**Here's another one, I decided to do part of it in Fabien's point of view since we haven't been able to experience that yet :P Thanks for all the good reviews :D I would have uploaded this sooner today, but I had to go to the doctor because I have a swollen lymph node . . . not as fun as it sounds. So antibiotics...yay. I wrote this chapter, 6, and 7, on vacation so after that I'm probably going to take a break because I don't have as much time anymore to update since I still have so many things to do this summer and I have to work. Anyway, Happy Reading everybody :)**

**Disclaimer: yeah still not mine, I realized that I forgot this in the previous chapter and I'll most likely keep forgetting it since I can't remember anything for my life.**

P.O.V Fabien

Sunday morning is slightly more eventful than the days before, perhaps for the better or the worse. Jerome tumbles out of bed early in the morning only to scramble over to my sleeping form and attempts to shake me awake.

"Jerome, go back to sleep, it's Sunday," I groan as I open my eyes just slightly enough to see the tall blonde standing before me. Jerome often claims that everyone's oversleeping when it's really a weekend. It's one of his 'hilarious' pranks.

However, Jerome keeps shaking me, whispering for him to get up. I sigh deeply, with a trace of annoyance, but sit up to face him.

"What?" I ask. My expression resembles expectance.

Jerome pulls a phone from his pocket and shoves it at me. I read the screen carefully, and then look back up at him, my expression holding slightly more sympathy than before. I don't think that Jerome deserves what is happening to him with Rufus, but he's gotten himself into this mess. He's selfish and not trustworthy. I don't see why I should bother risking my own neck to help someone who won't even feel gratitude for it.

I get out of bed slowly, still holding the phone. It's a message from Rufus. Another threat, telling Jerome to meet him somewhere. I hadn't realized that this situation has escalated so much. Maybe I should go wake Nina. Using Jerome a s spy is getting more risky by the day. If we don't make a move soon to resolve the issue with the pieces, someone's going to get hurt. For the moment, however, I want to suggest that he go and meet with him. Just to keep our cover, of course.

He makes eye contact with me, "I know, I know," he says gruffly, "you want me to go."

And so I hold my tongue, not wanting to speak the acidic words. We're putting a death sentence on his head, I hope the others understand that. He goes to meet with Rufus and I wake everyone else up. They don't seem as worried as I am, but most everyone except Patricia get out of bed and sit at the breakfast table to wait. It takes less than a half hour for him to come back. He sits with us at the table, not looking up from his plate.

I raise my eyebrows and lean forward excitedly, "So? What'd you find out?"

He doesn't look up, but at least he starts talking. "He really wants those pieces."

"That's it? You didn't find out any more about the cup?" Nina looks at him in disappointment, perhaps slightly angry as well.

He shakes his head and finally looked up, "He wasn't in the mood for talking."

Nina leans back in her seat shutting her mouth. A large bruise is forming over Jerome's eye. It looks rather unpleasant. Has Rufus really stooped that low as to hitting children now? I knew we shouldn't have let him go, but I don't say anything of it.

"Ew, what happened?" Amber asks.

"He told me that I was getting too nosey," Jerome says, with regret in his voice, "And then he hit me and told me if I didn't get my hands on those puzzle pieces soon it'd be more than my eye that'd be black and blue." He sits back. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Nina looks at him, "We'll figure it out. Just keep doing what you're doing and we'll take care of it."

Jerome glares at her, but says nothing and I glance at her in wonder. How can she still have so much confidence beside her? All of this drama seems to be draining me of everything I have left, but somehow Nina always stays strong. There's a long, strange silence in the room and we all stay still. I think we're all scared, honestly. Scared of the consequences of playing in an adult world.

"Jerome?"

We all snap back to reality suddenly when Trudy comes to the door.

"What happened to your eye?"

"Me and Alfie were roughhousing. Sorry Trudy."

I'm greatly surprised at the little time it took Jerome to come up with an excuse that would convince even Trudy to drop the subject. Alfie grins next to me.

"Do be more careful. Anyway, you have a phone call from your father in the hall."

That really gets Jerome going. His eyes widen and his gaze snaps to meet hers. Do his parents not call often?

"My father?"

"Yes, dear."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Jerome looks most uncertain as he ventured out into the hallway towards the ancient phone. We all look at each other with a certain hint of curiosity that no one can pass up. We sneak to the door and listen to the conversation on the other side.

P.O.V Jerome

A call from my father? That was never a good sign. I feel nervousness creeping up on me as my hand lingers on the phone. Finally I find the courage to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jerome." Comes the voice from the other end.

I hold my breath for another end, "Dad." It's definitely him. I could never forget that voice. "What do you want?" I say casually, trying not to hint the surprise in my voice.

"I called to check how you and Laura were getting on."

"Of course you did. Then why didn't you tell her to come to the phone?"

"Because I also wanted to tell you that your mother and I are coming home early from business and staying the day tomorrow and then bringing you both back home for the break."

I freeze. Now I am shocked. I thought I would be able to spend the break at Anubis. After all, it's only a week. "No." I say, the fear rising in my voice.

"Excuse me?" Oh god, here comes the anger.

"I'm not coming home over the break and you're certainly not coming here. I don't want you here. You haven't bothered visiting me since you sent me to boarding school when I was five, and now all of a sudden just because _she's_ here, you decide to make it some kind of family vacation? No."

"You'll show me some respect if you know what's good for you. My decision is final. We'll talk about this when I get there, don't think we won't."

And then he hangs up. I feel a tear choke its way out. By talking about it, of course he doesn't mean that at all. I bang me head against the staircase once. My life is broken. It's a piece of glass that keeps breaking and cracking until one day it'll just shatter and I'll die from the pressure.

I slam the phone back down on the hook and make for the dining room once more. I hear a scuttle, but when I enter the room everyone's still sitting at the table. Mara, Mick, Laura, and Patricia had finally risen from their slumber and joined the other as well.

Alfie looks at me, "What was that all about, mate."

I look up trying not to show how nervous I really am. "Uh, my parents are coming to visit."

Mara looks up in surprise with a snap reaction, "Seriously?"

I nod, "And then they're taking me and Laura back home for the break."

Laura hides a look of worry from me, but I know it's there. Everyone else seems slightly surprised. No one from the house has really ever met my parents, not even Alfie.

Mick looks up, "I don't think any of us have ever seen them. They don't come to visit often, do they?"

"They never come to visit."

And the awkward silence ensues once more, coating the air with a thick glaze of bottomless quiet. I clam up at the thought that my dad will be coming to visit. Here of all places. This is the one spot where I, in its all entirety, felt as if I was, in some way, safe. Safe from the cruel outside world that has stricken hate upon me and clutches me in such a choking hold that I might burst with the strange energy that keeps me here. Safe from ones who are obligated to show you love and bring you into this world as a new blooming person, while not helping you out of it as well. Safe, even, from the ill temptations that would have taken me over if I'd had the opportunity to become addicted to their sweet lies and empty promises.

Circling around the table, I make for the door. My dad's coming tomorrow. It's a thought that maybe if I bury myself deep enough in my other worries; I'll be able to forget. I'm caught between two hells at the moment, and it seems as though fighting won't get me out. Not this time.

**End of another chapter. What do you think? Too short? Not my favorite chapter, but hopefully next chapter will be better because there'll be some added drama. Enjoy!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	6. Family Reunion

**And I'm back :D Yeah I think Jerome's point of view is most definitely my favorite so I'll mostly keep it in his point of view, but I'll switch it up just once in a while so you guys can get a taste of what the other characters are thinking. I tried to make it a bit longer this time :D Thanks for all the review, you guys are awesome! Enjoy the chapter!**

P.O.V Jerome

The day me parents were visiting I didn't sleep a wink the night before. I lay in bed all night with my eyes wide open, staring at the darkness. I haven't seen them in so long that it almost feels like everything's back to normal in my life. So much for that. I get up at around 7:30. I never thought that I'd miss school this much. _Still one more hour of freedom, _I tell myself. I'm worried that I won't be able to live up to their standards. For years I've been trying to impress them and show them what potential I have. Maybe today's the day I can prove it.

Surprisingly enough, most of the house is up not half an hour after I am, and Laura was already making breakfast in the kitchen for them by the time I got up. I walk up to her.

"You know, you don't have to make breakfast for them. It's not like you need to prove anything to them. They still love you, regardless."

Laura looks up to me with _that look_ on her face, "Come on, Jerome. That's not fair."

"Oh, no. How rude of me, of course, life is never fair to you even though you've gotten everything you've ever wanted." With that said, I walk away. I feel bad about it, but I'm just in one of those moods that if I'm not careful, I'm just going to snap.

Mara joins me as I sit at the table. "You're not excited for your parents to come?" It doesn't seem like a question, more like a statement, but I figure that I'm obligated to answer anyway.

"Does it look like I'm excited for my parents to come?"

The look on her face is slightly sympathetic. I don't need anyone's sympathy! She says no more, but I'm sure that the words are itching in her throat.

Exactly at 8:30 sharp, the doorbell rings and I tense up, hoping that it's not too obvious. Victor answers it with a smile on his face. He loves the people that put the money in his paycheck.

"Mr. and Mrs. Clark, please do come in. The children have prepared a breakfast for you."

"Thanks Victor." That voice sent shivers straight down my spine.

Both my mom and my dad emerge from the doorway and Laura goes to greet them, jumping into a warm hug. I really do envy how much they love here. I know jealousy is tough, but I can't help it.

I push back my chair and slowly, but surly, make my way over to them.

"Hi mom," I say. She seems to be in a better mood than my dad because she hugs me. It's somewhat stiff and empty, but I accept it just the same.

I turn to my dad. I still haven't outgrown him. Great. "Hi dad."

"Son." He says, barely acknowledging my existence. He pulls my hand into a crushing hand shake and claps me on the shoulder. I hope no one saw me flinch.

"Mom, dad, we made breakfast for you. Why don't you come sit down?" Laura says trying to distract them, beckoning them to the table.

They gladly agree because it's Laura who asked them and sit at the table. I slide down to a chair further down from them. This breakfast is going to be horrible. I'm just waiting for the questions to begin.

"So Jerome," Says dad. _Here we go._ "How are you doing academically?"

I sigh inwardly, but perk up at the words. Maybe at least that will impress them. "Well, for the whole year with A's and B's." **I don't know how British school systems work so I'm just going to do it the American way.**

My dad looks unimpressed, "B's? Jerome, I thought we'd _discussed_ this. B's aren't going to cut it if you want to study at a good university. Are you the top of your class?"

I grip the spoon next to me so tight that my hand turns white. This time, I think everyone notices. "No." I say through gritted teeth. "Actually, Mara's at the top of our class," I try and say this pleasantly, directing the attention away from me.

"Oh," my mom looks at Mara with admiration, "And where are you planning to study in the future?"

Mara smiles, "Actually, I'm not sure yet. I really think I should take it one step at a time."

My dad smiles a deceiving smile, "Very good for you! See Jerome, this is a girl who knows how she's going to plan out her life. You should date her instead of all that scum you bring home."

"Dad!" I say in a warning tone. His gaze meets mine and I instantly shut my mouth.

My mom speaks up once more, "Jerome, how on earth did you get that awful mark on your face?" She says squinting to look at me.

My dad turns to my direction, "Yes, I was wondering that too. You're not getting into fights again, are you?"

I think I might be turning red with anger, "No," I hiss, "Alfie and I just like to wrestle, is all."

"I see." My dad looks very unpleased.

I sink in my chair. Just once they could be proud. Maybe they could just even act like they were proud once in a while. Even that would be good enough for me.

P.O.V Mara

Mr. Clark is a very large man. His voice booms when he talks a bit, but Laura and Jerome seem to be used to it. He's a nice enough man to me, but after hearing what Laura told me, I can see how he acts so differently towards Jerome. He doesn't act like a dad at all. He acts like a teacher whose student just can't seem to get anything right.

"Well, Jerome, as your sister probably told you, she was going to be staying for two weeks while she was off, but that's far too long for her to be roaming around this . . . place." Jerome's mother speaks with a soft, but firm voice. "So we'll take you home for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then on Friday, Laura will come to see you off on her way back to school."

"Sounds great, mom," Jerome says enthusiastically, but his face says everything that his words do not.

It scares me a little bit, to be in the presence of this family. They seem so intimidating. Jerome meets my gaze, his face serious, but his eyes dull, withdrawn, and somewhat afraid. It's hard to tell, but I think I can see the real Jerome peeking through. The Jerome that doesn't hide his feelings from the world or have this cruel vibe coming off him. He seems more human in this moment than he has ever been, so to speak.

After breakfast, we disperse. Jerome's parents go out with Laura to explore the campus. For some strange reason they leave Jerome behind, who in the meantime goes outside to smokes another cigarette.

I sit down with Mick in the living room as he opens his mail. Suddenly he jumps up laughing and cheering. I look up at him quizzically, a slight smiles filling my face. "What is it?"

He grins at me from ear to ear and grabs me by the waist, twirling me around, "Mara, I got into the school! I got a scholarship!"

He finally puts me down and my head is spinning for several reasons, "That's great, Mick." My tone slightly is only enthusiastic.

"Aren't you excited for me."

I sit down again, "Of course I am!" I pause, considering what I'm going to say next. Slowly the words come out, "I just thought that you might stay here."

"Stay here?" Mick looks completely confused. "Why would I stay here?"

I hesitate, "Well I just though you could stay here because of me, and all you friends at Anubis.

He looks at me completely shocked, "Mara, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Why aren't you happy for me? This is my future!"

"Well, maybe I'm your future, too."

"Mara, don't be ridiculous."

"Excuse me?"

"This is a high school fling; we're not talking about marriage here."

I'm completely taken aback. I thought we loved each other. "So that's what this is to you? Just some high school fling?"

"No!" He says, becoming frustrated. We're both yelling now. "I just thought that you'd understand that my career and my future is more important than staying here. I thought if you cared enough you'd want to make this work."

I don't say anything.

"Obviously not." He says quietly, before walking off.

I feel a hot tear roll down my cheek. Why was he being so selfish? I thought we'd come to that point where we'd make sacrifices just to be with each other. I though what we had would be more important than some school across the country.

P.O.V Fabien

Jerome's parents just got back from their day out with Laura. I can't quite understand why they'd come to Jerome's school and then take off with his sibling. I think their family might be more complicated than mine. Jerome passed by me not half an hour ago, stinking of smoke. I suppose he's gone to take a shower and change his cloths. I begin to walk down to my room. This mystery about the pieces is just waiting to be solved. I'm almost there. I can feel it.

As I'm taking a seat on my bed, reaching for my laptop, I hear a commotion in the room next door: Jerome and Alfie's room. I think it's Jerome and his father having an argument. It doesn't sound too good. I listen through the wall to hear better.

"Is it too much to ask that you once try and make me proud?"

"It's not my job to make you proud!"

"It is if I say it is. I sent you here to learn some common sense and to cram at least some knowledge into that thick skull of yours."

"That's bull and you know it! You sent me here because you didn't want me and Laura and Mason were better children. I've been at boarding school for 12 years and it's definitely not because you love me!"

"You watch yourself, Jerome. Your mother and I could have sent you off to an orphanage with the way you were behaving. Consider yourself lucky that we even kept you."

"You should win a father of the year award." Jerome says sarcastically.

There's a smack of skin against skin. Did Jerome's dad just hit him? What the hell!

Jerome's dad starts talking again, "That's a warning for whenever you want to lose your temper with me. As you well know, I have an itchy hand. If you don't behave yourself this week, you know what's coming to you. I don't think you want a repeat of last summer."

The door slams and footsteps pass my door. I get up immediately. Please tell me that I didn't just witness that. I walk to the door, almost running into a very furious Jerome.

"Watch it, Fabien." He says gruffly as he pushes past me to follow his dad. His left cheek is red and raw.

So it was real.

**And then end of another chapter. Next chapter is probably going to be short because it's just a transition chapter really so sorry if it's lacking some action. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it took me a while to write because my writers block was being a bitch.**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	7. This is Home?

**Chapter 7! Wow I never thought that I'd get this far but here we are :D Yeah again, sorry for the short ****chapter as I said before it's kind of just a transition into the rest of the story, which unfortunately is already about half way through. I need to be able to finish this before I go to North Carolina which is next weekend and I don't think that'll be possible anymore :P so the finale could be a pretty long wait unless I can sneak in time for a chapter once in a while. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, hope you like the chapter!**

**jenc0449: The more the merrier :D I'm sure seventh grade girls can still inflict quite a lot of damage.**

P.O.V Jerome

The nightmare is starting again. I thought I'd be able to escape it until the summer, but obviously I was wrong. I guess we'll be driving home today. 3 hours of complete silence. Sounds awesome. I feel nervous about going back home. Although I'm not sure that I can call it _home _exactly. A home is where you're supposed to feel safe beyond any reason, and be surrounded by people that love and care for you and always want what's best for everyone. For some strange reason, I don't get that vibe from my home. I get a cold, empty feeling where I can look back on every mistake and have it thrown in my face as if the first time I lived through it wasn't enough.

The whole house comes to see us off. I'm sure it's not because they'll miss me. More like they'll be glad that I'm gone, or maybe they'll miss Laura. I meet eyes with Mara as I linger in the doorway, my sister gathering her things. My one bag to her four. I step back into my room to gather my duffle bag. On my way out, Mara almost bumps straight into me bouncing off my chest.

"Sorry," I mumble, trying to push past her.

"Wait, Jerome," She holds my arm, pulling me back.

My mood is so lousy that I almost feel the urge to just pull my arm from her grip and keep walking, but I feel like Mara too much to take out my anger on her. There are other people for that. So instead I turn slowly, trying to soften my scowl in the process. "What?" The words are still harsh and my expression is still cold, no matter how hard I try.

"Um, I just wanted to say, goodbye I guess."

I look at her, still staying silent. I guess inside, I'm just afraid that I'll say something that I don't mean.

"Listen, I know I'm going overboard for some stupid goodbye when you're only leaving for a few days, but, I don't know, I feel like I need to tell you this."

Again, silence, I look at her, compelled by her words, hypnotized by her deep, dark eyes.

"I know that we don't get to talk a lot, and I know you must hate me how I ditched you for Mick and all. I want to say that I'm sorry, ok? You had all the right to go off and join Amber. I made a mistake, and I almost lost your friendship."

My glassy eyes meet hers. I can never stay mad at her, not ever.

"So, do you forgive me?"

God, those eyes, they really get me sometimes. I was frozen, I guess. She sighs in annoyance and anger and turns to leave.

"Mara! Wait," this time I grab her arm, pulling her back into me. Our faces are only a couple inches apart, both of us are breathing deeply. "I forgive you." Then I press my lips to hers. To my surprise, she doesn't pull away, putting her hand on my cheek. We finally pull away, not breaking eye contact.

"Wow," I can't help but smile at Mara's reaction. I knew I was good, but I didn't know I was that good. My heart is beating out of my chest.

"Jerome! We're leaving. Now."

My shoulders sag as I hear my dad's voice cut through the air. He's always there to bring me down, to bring me back to earth, to ruin my high. Always.

I lace my fingers through Mara's. "My feelings about you never changed." I brought my lips close to her ear, brushing her skin. "I could never hate you. Not ever."

I pulled away from her now, slipping my hand from hers. Picking up my duffle from the floor, I throw it over my shoulder and smile to her, making for the door. My dad waits at the door, putting a hand on my shoulder to almost escort me out as if he's afraid that I'll run off or something If he's not there to restrain me.

The car is cramped and packed. I feel like I'm in an ant farm. Of course my parents would buy this little crapper of a car. My legs barely fit behind my mom's seat and mine. When I look out the window, I can see Mara staring back at me from inside. She smiles and waves and I return the gesture. Figures, all of a sudden she breaks up with Mick and even fucking kisses me and now I have to spend days apart from her while she has the chance to mull it all over, possibly deciding against her initial decision to kiss me in the first place. Life is so complicated.

The scenery on the drive back home is uninteresting. Tree, house, road, car, tree, wall, tree, shopping center, doctor's office, tree, and so on. The car is completely silent except for the grinding of the engine. Mom and dad never did like music very much . . . or fun for that matter. Finally, mom decides to speak up.

"So Laura, did you have a nice time?"

"Of course, daddy."

Even she seems to space out.

"Jerome, I want you to help me with some things at the house while you're home."

"Like what?"

"The house needs to be painted and the lawn needs to be mowed. Your mother is having guests over on Thursday."

I said nothing.

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard you. I just don't understand why I should help _you_ with _your_ house when you don't even let me live there."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I said simply. Inside my chest my heart was beating so loud that I was sure everyone else in the car could hear it. On the outside, however, my stone stare didn't move. I didn't even blink.

"That house and the people living in it pay for your life, Jerome. Without that house and the way we can afford it, you wouldn't even be here right now."

"A lot of good it did me." I mutter.

Suddenly my dad swerves, pulling the car over to the side of the road.

"Listen to me and listen to me very carefully," His tone was quiet, but threatening. "You will show me some respect if you know what's good for you. If you don't behave yourself this week, I'm going to make sure that it's the worst week of your entire life. So sit down and shut up. You better not cause me any trouble. Understand?"

I didn't break eye contact.

He raised his voice a little more, "Understand?"

"Yes." I say through gritted teeth.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes sir."

My dad smiles, almost kindly. It makes me sick.

"Good."

A sympathetic look from Laura sends me back to looking out the window.

When we reach the house that night, it's already dark. It's nearly eleven by now. I'm the last one in the house. I climb the stairs up to what used to be my room. The floor is cluttered with boxes and my mom's stuff. I have to climb through everything just to get to my bed. Sitting on it, I take a deep breath. Home? This doesn't feel like home.

The door opens and then there's a knock. "Jerome?" No answer. "Jerome, can I come in." Still nothing.

In the end she decides to push her way in anyway. She comes to take a seat next to me. "I'm sorry."

I look at her, "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is, and deep down, I know you know that."

I say nothing for a minute. "It's not your fault." I insist.

**Not as short as I had anticipated, but still quite a small chapter. What do you think? Seriously experiencing writers block right now. He has to spend a whole three days with his parents so I have no idea how that's going to play out. So we'll see! Hope you enjoyed it.**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	8. Help

**And another chapter! Sorry, I wanted to take less time to finish this by getting out a couple chapters a day but that didn't end up working out so this is all I've got. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Thanks for reading!**

P.O.V Jerome

It's Tuesday morning and I wake up around 6 am. I couldn't fall asleep the night before for hours. I feel sick now more than ever and I'm afraid that I'll end up throwing up again like I did almost the whole night before. By now my brain is starting to hurt. I tip toe downstairs ever so quietly. The kitchen brings me a slight feeling of comfort. I pour myself the most plain, tasteless cereal that I can find and slowly snack on it until the milk makes it to mushy to eat. I spend time staring at things at the wall. All the pictures and clocks and knickknacks that I grew up with and from looking at them so much as a kid have gotten sick of are all still there. They litter the room.

It's not more than 20 minutes before Laura makes her way down to me. She's wearing a bathrobe and her hair is up in a messy bun. I can't say I'm much better since I'm still sitting around in my pajama pants. She takes the box of cereal and sticks her hand in it, scooping out a few pieces and shoving them in her mouth.

"That's ladylike." I say sarcastically.

She gives me a mild sneer, "Yeah well, you're violent puking woke me up."

I dropped my smile and my eyes to the floor, "You heard that?"

"Are you still having trouble with your insomnia? I thought you got over that when you moved out."

I shook my head, but didn't answer.

"You should get dressed and ready for the day before dad gets up. He gets angry when we sleep in."

I shake my head in disbelief, "Nothing every changes around here."

"Nothing except for you." Laura says, our eyes meeting.

I crack a slight grin, "You say that as if it's a good thing."

"It is a good thing, Jerome! You don't take crap from anyone and you always stand up for what you believe in. I look up to you for it."

"And look at all the good it's done me," I say eyeing her.

The conversation ends there and we split up. I head up to my room to get ready for the day. It's not long until dad opens the door and walks in. He freezes slightly. I'm changing my shirt and my back is to him. I smile to myself. It seems as though he seems guilty for the pain he caused me now, but I know he'll forget about it soon enough.

"Jerome!" His voice hardens, all the regret in his eyes has gone.

"Yeah?" I ask, my voice cold, imitating his.

"Get your ass out here. There're chores that have to be done and the lawn needs to be mowed."

"I'll get to it," I mumble under my breath.

My dad puts a hand to his ear, beckoning me to speak up, "Excuse me? What was that."

I grit my teeth, "Yes sir, I'm going."

He slaps me on the back once, "That's what I thought you said."

Mowing the lawn takes nearly all morning. By noon time my stomach is growling and I've done grass to the best of my ability. I go inside for water and a quick lunch, only to meet my dad inside.

"Done so soon?"

"I've been out there since 8."

"Well obviously you didn't do a very good job then."

I look at him in disbelief, but say nothing. I know better. He sets down his newspaper and takes a sip of his coffee. He seems calm.

"Jerome, sit down." He gestures to the seat across from me.

I do as I'm told, not breaking eye contact with him.

"I had a chat with Victor before we left. I've heard some interesting things about how school's been going and how you've been acting in the house. Is there anything you want to share?"

I still say nothing, just shake my head slightly.

"Jerome," He sighs, "I'm beginning to lose my patience with you. I feed and clothe you and invite you back to our home so that you can have some time to spend with your family, yet somehow you never seem pleased. You never give us thanks for all we've done for you. The only thing you do to repay us is act out and do irrational things." He narrows his eyebrows.

Still I am silent.

"I've heard some interesting things. Especially that you're involved with other children from that house that are plotting against Victor. He's told me that you have purposely come into contact with a criminal. Is this true?"

I shake my head and mumble, "I didn't do anything. It's the others, they're pressuring me." And there it is again, lying and sleazy Jerome that cares for no one but himself.

"And this Mana girl, is the in on it too?"

I drop my eyes from his and look at the floor, "Her name's Mara."

"Excuse me? Did I ask you what her name is?"

"No."

"Then answer the real question, Jerome."

Finally I answer, "No, she's not."

"Jerome, we can sit here all day until you start telling me what's really going on and stop lying to me." He says, crossing his arms slowly across his chest and leveling his stare.

I look up, "I'm not lying."

"Listen to me, Jerome, Victor is very concerned about what goes on under the roof of that house and if you know something about these other children that might be putting anyone else in danger you need to tell me. Victor is a close friend of this family and he's a big reason that you've gotten along so well in that school. We need to at least show him some sort of gratitude for all that he's done for you. Understand?"

"Dad, I don't know anything, I swear."

"For your sake you'd better hope that you're telling the truth. I don't want you associating with these children anymore when you get back there. Do you understand me."

"Yes." I mumble, still not looking at him.

"Look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you." He roughly hits me under the chin and my head snaps up to meet him.

"Yes," I say again,

"Yes, what?"

This is really starting to get under my nerves. I take a deep breath through my nose and force my eyes to make contact with him. "Yes, sir."

God this is so awkward. I release my breath when Laura comes in the room. She notices the tension between the two of us and instantly comes to my side.

"Jerome, would you mind helping me move something in my room?"

I nod eagerly, getting up to follow her, but dad stops me by roughly grabbing my wrist.

"This conversation isn't over," He says, "We'll be discussing this later."

I say nothing, but count a whole six seconds before he finally lets go.

I follow Laura upstairs and stop in her doorway, "So what do you need help moving?"

"Nothing, I just thought you might want to get away." She says with a smile.

I'm slightly taken aback. When we were kids, Laura didn't do anything to stop dad from hitting me or yelling at me. I feel a slight spark of hope in my stomach. Maybe with Laura on my side this week will be easier to get through than I thought. I lift my head to smile at her.

"Thanks." I say with a warm smile before exiting the room.

P.O.V Mara

It's almost afternoon on Monday when I bump into Fabien coming down the hallway. We block each other's path no matter which direction we try to go. We mumble to each other as we try to pass by.

"Oh, sorry . . ."

"Here, lemme just . . ."

"I've just got to . . ."

Finally he interrupts and stops me, "I'll go left, and you go right?"

I laugh, "Agreed."

As we pass each other, he grabs my arm gently, "Um, actually, can we talk about something?"

I lock eyes with him nervously, "Um, sure, I guess."

Fabien leads me to the couch and sits next to me, "You're pretty good friends with Jerome, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Ok," He says, sighing deeply, "I saw something the other day that I shouldn't have."

I look at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"Well I didn't exactly hear, I kind of heard." He looks at me, "I think Jerome's dad is hitting him." He blurts out all in one breath.

I don't say anything at first.

"Don't you believe me?"

I shook my head, "of course I believe you, Fabien! It's just that . . ." I fade out.

"It's just that what?"

"Well I talked to Laura while she was here . . ."

"Yeah . . ." He urges me to keep talking.

"She told me the story of their childhood."

"And?"

"It doesn't sound like a pleasant way to grow up."

"Meaning?" He still tries to press more out of me.

I gulp and look over at him, "I saw his back. There were markings, scars, all over it and I asked her about it. She told me stories about what Jerome's dad did, well, does, to him."

Fabien stares at me, wide eyed, "I can't believe this."

"Fabien, you have to promise me not to tell anyone."

"What?"

"Just trust me, ok? This isn't what he wants. I want to talk to him about it before we go storming in to his life."  
>He looks at me, still in disbelief. "Are you joking? We have to do something about this!"<p>

"What are we supposed to do? Victor won't do anything about it and we have no proof. Jerome won't go along with it! He's kept it a secret this long, he's not about to ruin it now."

Fabien's shoulders relax as if he's taking in everything that I just said. "We need to help him."

"We will." I say, "I swear we will."

**Ahhh the last dialogue was just me rambling, I hate it some much, but it's all I've got because I was distracted when I attempted to write it. So anyway I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I tried my best :P Happy reading!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	9. The Art of Lying

**I'm trying so hard to stick with this, but writers black arghhhh. Anyway, here's chapter nine, I hope you guys enjoy it. It's a bit more upbeat and dramatic so maybe it'll grab you attention.**

**Izzi08: Don't be fooled :P I'm the biggest procrastinator ever!**

**Sully Clark: I totally understand :D My dad's strict, but he's cool so it's kind of hard to write this story with a different perspective of things.**

**Disclaimer: I told you guys I'd forget it again :P But yeah I don't own anything but Laura and Mason yada yada yada.**

P.O.V Jerome

Wednesday. The days never go by fast enough. Every day this week is gonna drag on forever. Why can't Friday come any sooner? I've been sitting in my room all morning. I haven't bothered eating breakfast, although I showered and got ready in case dad walks in later. I clasp my hands together, hanging my head, staring at the floor. Lying on the hardwood is a picture book. The breeze from the window keeps turning the pages back and forth. It's the book I used to read to myself, even though I couldn't read, when I was a child and things were rough at home. I'd sit there and stare through the pictures, making up my own story to go along with it. The story was always the same, every time I looked at the book, but it always filled a certain hole in my heart.

Growing up had never been much fun. When you really only have yourself as a kid, it's hard to be in touch with the outside world. I always had my own fantasy going on in my head. Whenever things went wrong I'd bury myself under my blankets and I'd go to that place. I'd dream about it so long and hard that it was hard not to believe that it was true. I was happy there. Reality doesn't give me that kind of happiness anymore.

My parents took me to a doctor once. Not the regular kind. They thought I was crazy. He told them it seemed as though I had abandonment issues. He asked them if they understood why. They told him I was an orphan. They never took me back to see that doctor. A year later they took me again to a 'specialist'. He was good friends with my dad; therefore he never asked any questions. He told them the same thing the other doctor said, but he also concluded that I had a mild case of schizophrenia and was worried about my insomnia that seemed to be playing up. When I was young, I used to drive myself mad thinking about how messed up my life was, so mad that it would keep me up all night, so mad that I'd just end up making myself sick. It wasn't some damn disorder. It was me. It was always me.

So they gave me a steady supply of pills to get me through the nights, but I always hid them under my tongue and pretended to swallow. I couldn't handle falling so deep into sleep, it didn't feel right. Sometimes I felt as though if I let them get me to sleep, they might come get me in the middle of the night and leave me on someone else's doorstep like Harry Potter. I was a really paranoid kid.

Things never really got much better as I grew up. I guess boarding school helped a bit. I never got homesick since there wasn't really a home waiting for me, but it took me years to get over my sleeping habits. I remember Trudy used to have to hold me the whole night through and she still got more sleep than I ever did. If anyone had been something like a mother to me, it had to be her. And my friends, I guess, when it suited them. It was hard to make friends. I didn't trust them and they didn't trust me, I guess that's how all my relationships all ended up. And girlfriends? God, that was even more difficult. One night stands. I did that a lot. And when they started asking questions, that was always a problem.

I wipe my face with my hand. I hate remembering it all. I hate this place, it always brings back every memory that I've forced into the back of my head. They come spinning out of control to the back of my eyelids where I have to relive them every time that I sleep, every time that I blink, every time my mind wanders into a different place. This is why I don't like coming back home.

I leave the house around noon. Well, more sneak out than leave. I kick rocks as I stumble clumsily down the all too familiar sidewalk. The old park is only a couple blocks from the house. I used to sleep in one of the tunnels on the playground when I was a kid. Sleeping in the cold always seemed more appealing than going back home.

The old park benches lay almost in ruins, and graffiti covers almost everything. They're tearing this place down soon to make way for a plaza. Mom says it's the best thing that they could do to an old, crumbling town like ours. I disagree.

The wood can barely hold my weight as I sit down. The playground is falling apart as well. Every monkey bar seems to be rusted, the swings creak when the wind blows them to use, and the slide looks as though it can barely hold a small three year old. I guess it's not as nice as I once thought it was when it was my makeshift home when I was small. I stare at the scenery for what feels like almost an hour when a spot a movement from the distance. I think it's a kid, from the way it's moving. Soon enough, a boy, maybe thirteen, comes sprinting towards me, stopping at the slide, panting out of breath.

"Hey kid, you ok?" I ask, raising my voice.

His eyes frantically land on me and shimmer, comprehending my words. He doesn't answer me at first, but slowly shakes his head, no.

I take a deep breath; I've never been good with children. Terrifying them, sure, I'm great at it. But being comforting? Like a father? I wouldn't even know where to start.

"What's your name, kid?"

He still seems unsure of whether he should put any sort of trust in me. A teenager sitting in a beat up park does seem pretty sketchy. I guess I don't blame him.

"Tom." He finally answers, not taking his eyes off me, surveying my every move.

"Hey Tom, I'm Jerome."

"Hi." His voice is small and quiet, as if he's still too withdrawn to decide if he's going to commit to a conversation with me.

"What are you doing our here by yourself?"

He eyes me somewhat suspiciously. "Getting away."

"Getting away from what?"

"Home."

I slowly stand up and sit on the bottom of the slide, next to him. He doesn't move. At least he's not running away from me.

"You know, when I was little, I used to come here all the time by myself."

He looks at me, "Did your parents fight a lot too?"

I shake my head, looking off towards the sky. "No, but my dad was a real bastard. We fought a lot."

He sniffles slightly. I can see him eyeing me out of the corner of my gaze. "Is it normal for parents to drink, even when it's hurting them?"

I crack a slight grin, "I wish I could say no." I contemplate that for a moment. "Not all parents do, though. Parents are supposed to love you and not do anything that hurts the people around them."

"Does your dad drink a lot?"

"A shitload." I say, nodding sadly.

He sniffles again. "But he can stop, right? I mean, he'll stop won't he? They'll stop?"

I look at him, hesitating. His eyes are so hopeful and strained. "Yeah," My voice cracks heavily as I talk. I push away a strange feeling of sympathy that I have for this kid. He reminds me so much of myself. "Yeah, they'll stop."

He says nothing.

"But sometimes you have to tell them to make them stop. You have to tell them just how much their fighting is hurting you. Otherwise they'll never know."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," I answer again.

He's silent for a long while, but eventually speaks up, "I think I'm ready to go home now."

"Just remember, kid, no matter how bad things get, you're gonna grow up one day and you're gonna get out of this hellhole. Then you can be anyone you want to be and you don't have to listen to anyone fight if you don't want to." I turn to smile at him.

Surprisingly he returns my smile. "Good luck with your dad, Jerome." He says before departing.

"Good luck." I say as he turns to leave.

That's what I would have needed someone to say to me when I was a kid. I just needed someone to tell me that everything was going to turn out ok. I just needed that little bit of reassurance in my life. Maybe that's why I'm so screwed up.

I sit on this damn slide until the sun goes down. I check over my shoulder towards the sidewalk. No one bothered to come get me all day. I hope that means that there'll be little trouble when I get up amount my missing in action.

When the sun has finally tucked it's way under the horizon, and the street lamps seem to be my own source of light, I make my way back home. The streets are as empty now as they had been when I walked to the park earlier. The lights are on in the house when I get home. I turn the knob of the front door gingerly, trying my best to make a quiet entrance.

When I enter, Laura, mom, and dad are sitting at the dinner table, just finishing up their meals. There's no plate set in my place. As if I wasn't even here.

"Where've you been all day, Jerome?" My dad asks, not looking up.

"At the park."

"You missed dinner."

"I know."

"Then you can go to bed without it since you don't even have the decency to let your mother or I know that you would be leaving the house. Go to your room."

"Yes sir."

My stomach growls as I sit down on the bed. I haven't eaten all day._ It's no one's fault but your own._ I tell myself. If I'd eaten breakfast or even lunch before I'd left this morning then I wouldn't be starving right now. Dad doesn't know that I went without a meal today. It's not his fault. It's mine.

I try to get some sleep, but on top of the fact that it's still early, I have a feeling of restlessness inside me. I stay there, lying awake until it's almost midnight. No one's come to check on me after dinner, no one's even come to yell at me. Even Laura retires to her room without a word. Maybe she thinks I'm asleep by now. Or maybe she thinks that dad's right and I deserve to be punished by her silence.

I pick up the phone from the nightstand and dial Mara's cell phone number. After it rings several times, I'm sure she won't answer, but sure enough right before the voicemail picks up I hear her voice on the other line. "Hello?" She sounds tired.

"Mara, it's Jerome."

"Jerome!" Mara says, more cheerful this time. There's a scuffle in the background. "Hold on a second, Fabian just walked in."

I do as I'm told.

Mara's voice finally comes back online. "Jerome, Fabian wants to talk to you. Do you mind if we hold our conversation to the morning? I'm dead tired."

I want to protest. I didn't call to talk to Fabian, I called to talk to her, but I feel guilty keeping her awake. "Yeah that's fine." I'm filled with curiosity. Since when has Fabian ever given a rats ass about me? We're not even friends.

"Hey." That's Fabian's voice this time.

"Hey, what's up?" I try to hide the urgency in my voice. I'm really interested in what he's going to say.

"I just wanted to-."

He's cut off suddenly with a loud banging on the door.

"Jerome!" It's my dad on the other end.

I try to not panic and tell Fabian to hold on for a minute. "Yeah dad?" I ask.

"Are you on the phone?"

"No."

Suddenly the door busts open and my dad walks in, steaming with anger. "You're on the landline, dumbass." He pauses for a little bit, then starts advancing. "Do you have any idea what time it is? First you run off for the whole bloody day and now you have the nerve to lie to me."

"I'm getting off. Jeez." I say.

"Excuse me? Don't use that tone with me!"

"I'm not using a tone! I said I'd get off."

"And now you're lying again!" Dad starts advancing on me again.

Frantically, I try and hit the end button on the phone, but my fingers are so sweaty that they slip off the keys. Before I know it, my dad's hand wraps around it and throws it against the far wall. I can only hope that in the process it broke and Fabian's no longer on the other end.

My dad grabbed a fistful of hair and threw me to the floor. It made a loud thump that seemed to echo throughout the room. I didn't understand. He never really hit me this hard unless I did something seriously wrong. At the moment I was terribly afraid of what he would do next. The man was unpredictable today. At moments he was extremely calm and all of a sudden he seemed to be freaking out over absolutely nothing.

I look up at him, grimacing. "Are you drunk?"

That earns me a snappy backhand.

"Don't judge me, boy!" He raises his voice now. That's never a good sign. He was definitely drunk.

"Dad," I protest, bringing my hands up to protect my face. "Come on, I barely even did anything."

He looks at me, baffled. "Didn't do anything?" He kicks me swiftly in the side.

I groan and claw at the wooden floor, as if I'm trying to get away from him by crawling away. What did I ever do to deserve this?

"I'll tell you what you did," he lands another kick on my other side and crouches down next to me, getting uncomfortably close to my ear, "You were born."

I grip my abdomen in pain and look up at him. "The why the hell did you bring me home in the first place?"

He rolls his eyes slightly, "I don't know why I make half these decisions anymore, but the decision to send you to boarding school was the best one I've ever made."

"You're sick." I try to be bold, but honestly I don't think I have much control of any of me right now.

"How dare you!" He spits, aiming another kick at me. Again I groan. "I'm your father!" Another kick. "And you will respect me!" Another kick. "Or so help me God, I will make you." Another kick.

I roll around on the hard floor, a single tear streams down my face. As much as I try to hold it in, it still finds its way out.

My dad sneers at me, "Are you seriously crying. Grow up." With that he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

I pound a fist against the hardwood floor and scream, pressing my face against the wall. With a sudden panic I crawl over to where the phone connected with the floor. I bring it to my ear, listening to a breath or anything on the other line. All I hear is the dial tone. I let my shoulder sag. Thank God, Fabian heard none of that. I drag myself to my bed. I'm going to have such bad bruises tomorrow. Everything aches. It's hard to move.

I let my eyes slide shut. Maybe I can finally get some sleep now. Slowly, but surly, I begin to drift.

P.O.V Fabian

I hang up the phone just as I hear Jerome pick it up for the second time. Did I really just witness that? I feel a panic deep in my chest as I slide down to the floor outside of Mara's bedroom floor. I want to storm in and wake her from her sleep and tell her everything, but I can't bring myself to do it. Instead I set her phone down in front of her door and leave.

I sneak out the front entrance of the house and sit on the steps. I'm just sitting here while Jerome is getting hurt. How can I not be helping right now? Then I remember Mara's words. What can I do from miles away? No one ever believes me anyway.

"Fabian?" It's Nina's voice as she steps out to join me. "What are you doing up so late?"

I sigh, I don't want to tell her and I know Jerome wouldn't want me to either. "Nothing. Couldn't sleep."

Nina comes to sit next to me, putting her hand on top of me. "I know the feeling. The full moon's keeping me restless too."

I nod, absentmindedly.

She leans against me, putting her head on my shoulder. "I'm worried about the cup. We're reaching a deadline, I can feel it. I'm sure Rufus is getting restless, too which could spell trouble for us."

I nod, "And trouble for Jerome."

I close my eyes, letting the moons image sink into the back of my eyelids. _Just relax, Fabian._ I tell myself. _Everything's going to be alright._ My mom used to always say that to me when I would worry. For some reason it was easy to believe her then myself.

**Ahhhh! That took my forever to write, but I'm really proud of it and it's the longest chapter by far so I hope you guys really enjoyed it. I'm leaving for North Carolina soon. We will have internet, but I'll be there with my best friend so I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to get enough time to sit down and actually right anything, but I'll try my best! I'll be gone for two weeks and then my German friends will be here for three weeks so I'm really going to try to make time for all of you, but I can't make any promises unfortunately.**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	10. UPDATE!

**Sorry, not a real chapter Just sending you guys an update that I haven't given up on the story (not even close). I went to North Carolina for two weeks, and then my German friends came to visit for three weeks, and now I had to finish my summer ap U.S. history so I'm ready for my test. The hurricane caused school to be cancelled tomorrow, but on Tuesday I'll be back and once I get settled in I'll start up the story again. I already started a little bit of chapter ten so I'm getting there **

**Thanks,**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	11. Nostalgia

**Izzi08: Indeed! As soon as he gets back to school I'm going to make their relationship slightly more elaborate, but I'm not sure if I'm going to throw a complication into their relationship yet. It's kind of the only happy thing going on in this story at the moment.**

**Anubisfreak: I'm really touched that you like it so much! I tried my best to make it emotional, but it's always more difficult to do it with words than with anything else :D**

**DammitimmaD: Finally getting around to it** **:D I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna make Fabien a big conflict resolver in this story, but we'll see where the story line takes us!**

**XxXBlackPheonixXxX: You're the first one to really give me a critical review like this. I appreciate it so much :D I was going for trying to make the characters more real so if you noticed it, that makes me really happy! And unfortunately, yeah, I've noticed that too :/ usually when I'm done with a chapter I don't bother looking it over cause I'm just glad I finished it ^^ But I'll try to make sure that I catch those before I publish the chapter!**

**Staticterminator: Thanks! I'm trying :D**

**Unhr25: Finally doing it!**

**Ladiilove: Mhmmm, I'm not sure if she's going to be a key character in this. At first I was just planning on having her introduce the conflict on the story, but she's sort of developed into something much more emotional than that so I hope I can work with her more **

**Number 1 Muse Fan: Thank you so much :D I'll type as fast as I can.**

**Alright, now that that's taken care of, I want to apologize for the lack of updating I'm taking all advanced classes in school right now and two advanced placement classes so I'm having a hard time finding free time just for myself as it is. And somehow, the stress has been working its way on my writing. I'm having a hard time even with my more creative writing that doesn't have a deadline. So I'm sorry if this chapter is a little bland (or maybe the opposite) I'm kind of just going with the flow, I don't have any idea what's gonna come out of what I type today so bare with me!**

Thursday. Now the nerves are starting to work on me. Mom's having company over today and we haven't even started on the house yet. Deep down, I hope dad just forgets about it. Last night. Last night is a blur, a stripped reel of film that's been abused so many times that it's so naked, it's almost blank.

I shift uncomfortably, groaning as I stretch my legs out from underneath me. My jaw aches, and if I'm not mistaken, I think I've been face planting into a puddle of my own drool for the night. My fingers are stitched with pain as I curl them in, trying to stabilize myself enough to make it into a sitting position. It takes me almost a full minute to realize that I'm not in my own bed, but still on the barren wood. The creak of the floorboards under my shifting body brings reality back to my ears. I slowly open my eyes, squinting as the early morning sun filters through the filthy window.

I pick myself up off the floor, brushing the debris from my cloths gently and stiffly taking a seat on the bed. I rest my elbows on my thighs and bury my face into my hands. It takes everything I have not to start sobbing right there and then. _Stop it, Jerome_, I tell myself, _you're weak. You're acting like a little kid, no wonder he hit you._ I sigh deeply, and run one of my hands through my hair. It's a new day. Everything's going to be fine. Everything's always fine.

The shiver start to creep up my spine as the open window welcomes the dry breeze into my room. My head's throbbing and the soreness is beginning to take its toll on me. I warily balance myself on my two legs, grabbing cloths out of my open travel bag and maneuvering myself through the clutter to the door and slipping through it. I decide I should get ready for the day about now, remembering what Laura said about dad hating it when we don't. I don't want to provoke him today. I just don't want to get hit today.

The warmth of the windowless bathroom sooths me somewhat is my feet take shelter in the fluffiness of the ridiculous shower rug. The mirror doesn't settle my mood. I lift a hand to touch my raw cheek where I earned a backhand from my dad last night. The faint base of a purple bruise has begun to appear upon it, caressing my thin, angled cheek bone. I wince as my cracked fingers prod at the tender skin. I hate this.

But I'm preparing myself for the worst as I begin to undress. The mirror truly doesn't flatter me today. Bruises splatter my stomach, layering themselves onto my ribs. It looks like someone took a club and had me strung up like a piñata. The bruises are dark and purple, outlining my torso and reaching up past the bottom of my ribs. I lift a hand to the dark spots, but wince and quickly retract after feeling a sharp pain pass through my body. _Damn it._

I rest my elbows on the sink and put my head in my hands, running my fingers through a section of my hair once again. It's becoming somewhat of a nervous, stressful habit. _I deserve this_, I think to myself, _I made him angry. I brought this on to myself. I should never have come back, everyone would be better off without me around._ I take a deep breath, repeating and running these thoughts again and again through my mind. I rub my eyes dry, flinching a little as I run my fist over my bruised skin. _I deserve this._

I grab for the handle on the small medicine cabinet that doubles as a mirror. I grasp the bottle of pain killer in the corner and pour out three or four into my open palm. I force the small pills down my throat without water, blinking away the water in my eyes. Then I make eye contact with myself in the mirror again, meeting my grey gaze that reflects pity and sorrow. I look away disgusted.

The shower is much less welcoming. When the cold water first hits my body, I almost feel as if I should yell out, but I bite my tongue to stop myself. I remember when I was little and the beatings started. (**I know this was explained already, but not through Jerome's mind so deal with it**). Mom used to be against it. Once in a while she'd even tell him to leave me alone. But Laura and Mason tried that too, so I guess she wasn't anything special. I guess in some manor, she built up a tolerance in herself. Convinced herself that it was ok, that this was normal, and that in all realism, I deserved everything I got since it was the only way I'd learn how to behave. Boarding school was her idea, I don't know if she thought it would protect me from my dad or what, but I guess in some ways I should be happy that she suggested it in the first place.

I used to cry when it got real bad, sometimes I tried to fight back, but it was useless since he was way stronger than me. When my dad isn't as work, he usually makes daily trips to the local track or the gym. That and he still has a major height advantage over me. I don't think I'll ever outgrow him now. I remember the first time he took a belt to my back. It was the worst experience of my life. To this day I can't remember why he did or even how old I was, but I still remember every second of the beating that I took that morning. It killed me, not only because of the pain, but because the scars lasted. They're a permanent reminder of every mistake that I've ever made, burned into my skin, pressed deep into my body. They faded a lot, but they're visible in the light. I can't remember the last time I've even gone swimming in public. Even in our room at Anubis House, I have to make sure no one's around before I change.

I step out of the shower, beckoning the cool air to my skin, toweling off my messy head of hair. I can already hear movement below me in the kitchen. All I can do is hope that it's Laura and I still have another hour or so of freedom before either of my parents manage to gather themselves up enough to come downstairs and join the living.

I trudge through the house and down the stairs, slumped over and still exhausted. I exhale as I see Laura pouring herself some of her breakfast cereal. She turns around in surprise to see me standing on the bottom step yet she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't say anything.

"Where's dad?"

She looks at me solemnly, with a hint of understanding and sorrow outlining her features. "Still in bed." She says softly.

I nod, conquering the final step and joining her at the table. We're joined by unpleasant silence that fills the air.

"You don't look so good." She says, obviously concerned.

"Yeah? I feel even worse."

"Jerome," She says sternly, "Are you alright?"

"Not as sexy as usual."

"I'm being serious."

Inside, I sigh in annoyance, "I'm not laughing."

And the silence ensues once more. When she starts to talk again, I feel a slight anger start to bubble up inside of me.

"Why does he do this to you?" It's not really a question, more of a statement out of pity.

I sigh, "I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

She looks up at me. "Why do you let him do this to you?"

"What? You think I _let_ him beat me senseless because I enjoy the feeling?"

She recoils in aggravation. "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Jerome. You just lay there and you take it. Everything he dishes out to, you just take it like it's nothing and then you pretend everything's fine. It's not going to get you through anything."

"Don't you think I would stop him if I could?"

"That's the thing, Jerome. You can! You could tell someone, or if that's going too far just threaten him that you will tell someone!"

I eye her, "Do you realize what that would do to this family? Not only would it screw up their lives, but yours too! If something happens to mom and dad, you can't stay here anymore. Neither you or Mason can. We'll all be shipped off to some orphanage and we'll be separated, don't you get that?"

She's silent for a moment, "You still don't deserve this," She says.

"Yes, I do." I say through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"I deserve all of it, ok? Maybe if I was a better son, or if I didn't make him so angry, he wouldn't have a reason to beat me. Have you ever thought of that?"

"You can't really tell me you believe that."

"Of course I do, otherwise he wouldn't beat me. He has his reasons."

Laura began to protest when the stairs creaked and footsteps began to approach the kitchen table.

"Good morning," My dad says, almost cheerfully.

I mumble a greeting back to him.

"Jerome, you don't look to well today, we'll just paint the house the next time you come to visit."

I raise my head with a sudden surprise. _What?_ I am speechless.

He turns his head to look at me. "No excuses, you can rest up. You're going back tomorrow anyway." Is that regret in his eyes? Is it guilt?

Again, I can say nothing, but a nod weakly, my eyes still wide.

"Your mother's friends will be here within the hour though. They're bringing their son so you'll be in charge of keeping him company. Don't disappoint me." There it was. That distinct coldness that always sends shivers down my spine.

"Sure dad," I say submissively.

I quickly gather myself up, not wanting to ruin his impressively good mood. I suppose I'll waste the next little while in me room. Usually when my parents have guests come to visit I have to act like Harry Potter and hide away within the four walls of my room. It's sad to think that they're really that ashamed of me.

I drifted into a short slumber while I was waiting, counting the stains on the ceiling. I only awake to the sound of low voices discussing downstairs. I carefully make way to my door, listening in before I decide to join the meet and greet. I can't seem to recognize anyone, so I venture further until I come into view.

"Ah and who might this be?" The woman at the door says pleasantly. She's quite tall, much like the man standing next to her, who I presume is her husband.

My dad clears his throat uncomfortably. "This is our oldest son, Jerome."

The man smiled kindly, "Nice to meet you. And this whole time I thought you only had two children." He chuckled.

My dad nodded awkwardly. "He goes to boarding school, he's not home much."

The woman pipes in, "Oh, our son does too, but he got accepted into a sports program now. It's easier to handle financially." She stepped aside, revealing the boy standing behind her.

"Hey, Jerome." The blonde says, grinning.

"Mick?"

**So what do you think? It went in a completely different direction that I expected, I have to admit. I hope I can update sometime soon so I don't just leave you guys with that awkward cliff hanger!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	12. On Thin Ice

**So many reviews! I love you guys!**

**XxXBlackPheonixXxX: Thank you so much! That means a lot, you have no idea. I tried my best to model him after the show, but there's not much to model after. Thanks for the offer, if I need anything I'll be sure to let you know! :D**

** : Tried my best to foreshadow :D**

**Amian 4ever: Sorry it took me so long! Hopefully the wait was somewhat worth it though.**

**Izzi08: I laughed at the, oh my fuck comment, and hey, it may not be a bad thing :P but I know you hate him a lot so we'll just wait and see.**

**Xfreeforeverx: Personally, I imagined it to be Lora, but I kind of like it the other way too**

**Jenc0449: Haha, I probably would have done the same thing. Eh, this chapter may have a couple more mistakes in it. Trying to fit it in before Christmas! And thanks!**

**Anonymous (Good Chapter): Thanks, I'll try :D**

**Number 1 Muse Fan: I'm glad that my foreshadowing was somewhat successful! Also, sorry sorry, my patience for sitting down and writing is minimum :P I write the whole chapter all in one shot, so it takes a while.**

**Anonymous (Amazing Chapter): Any review is appreciated :D yup I want to throw in some drama with him. I don't want everyone to find out though gradually, so we'll see.**

**DammitimmaD: I hope it's a good one :D thanks!**

**Anonymous (AmazingAmazing): AHHHHH I feel like an idiot now! :P I'm one of those people who gets really annoyed when people don't do their research and spell the names wrong. Thank you sooo mych for telling me!**

**Emmajfjch: I'm most definitely planning on continuing this story :D if I don't you guys will be the first to know!**

**Other 3 anonymous reviews (I'm guessing you're the same person because you spelled write wrong three times :P): Ya sorry, slow updater! But I'm back!**

**So you guys are absolutely amazing! I think I love reading your reviews more than you like reading my story :D I really wanted to get this in before Christmas because I'm going away and I figured I owe you guys a present of some sort! I really want to let you all know while I'm on these really long breaks from writing that I'm going to continue the story and I haven't given up, but I hate people that put like 20 alerts in their story, so I'm going to refrain from that. Just remember, I write all these chapters in one sitting, so it's kind of tedious and I never plan out a chapter, I improvise them all. Swimming season started for me so I'm at practice from 9 to 10:30 every night and I still have school in the morning, so I've just been really tired lately. But I really hope you guys enjoy the story. Happy Holidays :D**

* * *

><p>I'm imagining things, right? Definitely. Because there is absolutely no way that Mick fucking Campbell is standing in front of me. In my doorway. Of my house. Nope, isn't happening. I'm definitely just crazy.<p>

I raise my head, not entirely aware that I'm shaking uncontrollably and I beg to God that no one's noticed. Mick has a smile placed upon his face, but it's not the usual smirk. It's almost like he's happy to see me. Oh God. I am going crazy.

I lift my arm and give his hand a hefty shake. The room is silent for a while and my head starts pounding as the fear begins to make it's away up there. My face. I never covered up the bruise. What if he asks? What'll I say? Can I tell him the truth? Can I trust him? At this point I don't really think I'm ready to trust anyone. I kick myself mentally for thinking like an idiot. I'm acting weak. And Jerome Clark is anything but weak.

I straighten out my spine and let a quirky smile balance itself on my lips. "And here I thought I'd finally gotten rid of you."

Mick laughs lightly, "You can never get rid of me mate, you should know that. How long did we live together? Four years."

"Four years." I echo.

"Well," My father starts, clapping a hand on my shoulder. I flinch outwardly, but try to conceal it as best as possible. I feel Mick's eyes on me. Please tell me that he didn't notice that.

"Why don't you boys go upstairs until dinner's ready and reconnect," He looks over at the Campbell's, "Or whatever the kids are calling it these days."

Everyone laughs.

I tighten my jaw and squirm my way out of my dad's grasp. I signal for Mick to follow me as I make my way to the stairs. As I reach my room I can hear my dad directing Mick's parents into the other room to meet Laura. Jealousy stabs at me like knives and I push the feeling down to suppress it.

I knock things out of my way to get back to my bed. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't rented this room out or sold all my stuff. Mick stuffs his hands in his pockets and blows some hair out of his face. He must have heard about me and Mara by now. I'm glad. I've always wanted to shove it in his face, but somehow his lack of jealousy and enthusiasm doesn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for.

"So," I begin, hoping to break the silence and the tension, "You like the new school you're going to?"

He looked up at me, somewhat surprised, "Uh, yeah it's great, you know, less school work, more training."

I nodded, "Cool."

He rubbed his neck awkwardly, "Uh, how's the house? How's everybody?"

I shrugged, "Fine last time I saw them, but I haven't seen them since Monday."

"I meant to ask you about that," He starts to say.

I'm already nervous on what's coming. My shoulders tense up. "Shoot." I say coolly. To show fear means to give in to the fear. Learned that from yours truly. One of his more lovely lessons that made a permanent mark on me.

"Well, don't get mad, but when you received that call from your father that day, we were sort of listening in on it through the door."

I feel anger flare up in my chest, but I say nothing and nod for him to continue.

"And then you told us how your parents never come to visit." He pauses to make eye contact with me again. "Why is that? I mean, have you always gone to boarding school or something? It doesn't seem like you come home too often." He eyes all the crap that's scattered around the room.

I don't answer right away, attempting to build confidence with every inhale, and not breathe the poison into the air as I exhale. Again, I shrug nonchalantly. "It's not a big deal really; I've gone to boarding school since I was really little, it seems normal."

"But why?"

"All my siblings do."

"Yeah, but by the sound of it they visit home more than you do."

"I don't know what you want from me, Mick."

He gives me a confused look, "The truth would be nice."

"I don't know anything, Mick. Some things don't happen for a reason."

"Jerome, stop kidding yourself."

"Stop acting like you know me."

"I know more than you think."

"Oh yeah? Like what."

"Like that bruise wasn't an accident, and it's newer, not the one you got at Anubis."

"What are you suggesting?"

Suddenly the door is pushed open roughly and my sister stumbles in. Her face instantly turns red as she examines the aftereffects of her interruption of our heated discussion. "Oh, sorry, I . . . I just needed to tell you that dinner's ready. Am I interrupting something?"

"No," I say tightening my jaw, "Nothing at all."

She turns to leave when Mick says, "Hold on."

She enters the room again turning to look at him in surprise.

Mick eyes me, "Since you obviously won't tell me anything, maybe she has the intelligence not to lie to me."

Laura's eyebrows narrow in confusion.

"The bruise on his face," He says pointing at me, "What's it from?"

As soon as she starts stuttering I know my cover's blown. The one thing Laura could never do for her life even if she was the perfect child. Lie.

"Well . . . he . . . our d-"

"Laura!" I say abruptly and she lifts her eyes to look into mine. Hoping that my eyes are warning enough for her not to continue, I lay off her.

"I . . . I don't know what happened. Maybe he got into a fight." She takes a long pause and then breaks in with; "Dinner's ready!" and stumbles back towards the door.

I feel like slamming my head into the wall. For a genius, she sure isn't a genius. I look up at Mick. "An accident." I stay stiffly before tearing my gaze away and stalking towards the door.

He follows me slowly down the steps into the formal dining room. Everything is set up elegantly. Every detail of the table, the food, the surroundings, have been picked out exactly to the dot. My mother will have absolutely no less than perfect in her point of view. Maybe that's why she hates me.

I take a seat submissively and quietly, trying to act almost invisible. I hate this house. I hate this town. I hate everything about being here. I can't believe that I ever thought of this place like an actual home. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that this place could ever have offered a sense of love or affection to me. It's the carcass of a family. It's rotten. Just like me.

Everyone eventually settles into their seats and passes around my mother's catered food. I don't have an appetite for any of the extravagant and elaborate meals that my mother chose. She spent more on them than she spends on me. They're worth more to her than I am.

"So Jerome," Mick's mother begins. "You go to Anubis. How do you like it there?" The smile on her face is all but fake. It's genuine and kind. I don't understand how this woman came to know my mother.

"It's a nice school," I say politely, shoveling some beans onto my plate which I know I won't actually eat. "Good faculty. I think it's a very exceptional place for learning." It's not me who's talking. It's the beast within. It's cultured Jerome, the one that's tamed and dead inside. The one that's been broken.

She nodded kindly, "Mick always loved it there. He had wonderful friends. So you don't come home all too often?"

I freeze, "I . . . I—"

"Don't stutter Jerome," my father says from across the table. "You know how I hate that. Don't be rude." His words say not to stutter, but his threatening eyes tell me to put on an act and make it good.

"Right, sorry. I stay at school for many of the holidays. It's just easier with Laura being away and Mason usually training straight through them. I almost had to smile to myself. Damn, I was good.

Mr. Campbell nodded, "We usually come and get Mick to bring him home. But he's an only child, so I suppose that's much less of a hassle." He chuckled deeply, but lightly.

I nodded and laughed politely. I hate being so cultured.

"And where is your youngest son, Arthur?" Mrs. Campbell asks, addressing my father.

"Training." My father answers. "Actually we're expecting him home very late tonight. He'll be home for the weekend and he'll leave again on Monday."

"We'll that's good!" Mrs. Campbell adds. "So he'll get to spend most of the day with his brother until he goes back."

My father nods and smiles, "Yes, they're very close, it'll be good for them."

I tense up with anger at his lies. Mason and I get along well, but since I'm never actually aloud to see him, you couldn't say that we were close. I haven't seen him in a few years. He's thirteen now. Jeez, last time I saw him, he was only ten. I see Laura more often because her school used to be closer to mine, she could take a bus to the city and we'd spend the day together.

The dinner passes by as slowly as possible. I feel crushed under the prying questions of the adults. There were only so many lies I could tell before my stories started overlapping each other and disproving each other. I try to excuse myself early, but the Campbells follow up by saying that need to leave anyway.

"Our hotels just down the street, basically walking distance." They were passing through on their way home. Mick's break was scheduled differently than ours was.

"Do you mind if I catch up with you guys? I'm really not ready to turn in yet." Mick says as they're putting their coats on by the door.

"Of course, dear, if that's alright with Arthur." Mrs. Campbell says, smiling.

My dad nods, "He's always welcome here. You all are; you know that."

"You're too kind! Well we must be going. Don't be too late, Mick, alright?"

He nods, kissing his mother goodbye. We hear the car start up and start down the road and my father and mother leave back for the kitchen to clean up. I take one more look at Mick, hinting disgust in my eyes and make for the door.

Outside I lean against the front of the house and light up. It's not enough to say I'm unhappy anymore. My whole world is crashing down around me and I can't do anything to stop it. I just want it to end. My whole life I've practiced putting up these walls around me, to keep every emotion and every person wielding them out. And it's worked up until now. If there's a problem, people don't care enough to ask what's wrong. I'm unapproachable and I like it that way.

I take another drag and almost have a heart attack when a shadow drops over me. Mick walks up next to me and I relax slightly. If my dad found me smoking out here, I think he'd actually kill me. We had a 'discussion' about smoking once and my back's never been the same since. I don't know what he'd do if he found out that his lesson didn't get through to me.

"You know, smoking kills."

"Alright, mom." I say, holding the cigarette with my teeth and inhaling deeply.

"You know, I used to have a friend whose dad hit him too."

I almost choked on my own breath. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Jerome; please tell me you're not going to try and deny all of what I saw back there. You flinch whenever the man comes near you. Just drop the act."

For once I'm silent.

"Why don't you tell anyone?"

"There's nothing to tell." I try to act cool, but honestly, I'm losing it with every word.

"Stop bullshitting me, Jerome, I'm not buying it. Now answer the question, why don't you tell anyone?"

"Mick, let it go. Whatever you think is going on here is in your head. Take your conspiracies up with someone who'll actually listen. Because I don't give a shit."

He's starting to get frustrated, and opens his mouth to say something else when a voice cuts through the air like a paper cut. I'm sure I can feel my heart skipping a beat.

"Jerome. Here. Now." My father is standing just outside the doorway, pointing in front of him.

I can't move, my limbs are frozen.

"We've talked about this before, haven't we? Now come here." His teeth are clenched and his eyes are blazing. The fear, that fucking fear is back.

I move subconsciously, the fear is guiding me.

As soon as my father has me by the arm he turns to Mick. "You should go home, it's late, I'm sure your parents are expecting you." He says it so calmly that it sends shivers down my spine. I'm anything but calm. I know what's coming.

Mick nods, hinting some fear, but turns to leave.

My dad grabs me by the neck and shoves me into the house, straight to the floor. "You stupid boy! Do you ever listen when I tell you things?" He kicks me once in the stomach, hitting the bruises from yesterday. "Can't you ever follow the rules?"

He stops and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opens them, they've changed. There's no longer hatred being reflected in them, there's disappointment. "Take off your shirt."

I freeze, "No, dad please."

"Don't beg with me Jerome. You're like a dog. Toughen up." His voice has gotten considerably louder.

I do as I'm told as my dad removes his belt. "You know I hate punishing you Jerome. I do it because I love you. I do it because you need it, otherwise you'd be wild. You understand that, right?"

I say nothing.

The first hit of the belt on my back, buckle and all, sends me straight to the ground and I can't help but groan as the stinging sensation follows up the sheer pain. This is starting out well.

I try not to scream, but hit after hit it seems to get more intense. After the fourth hit I'm collapsed on the floor. I don't want to call attention to myself. And most of all I don't want dad to look down on me like I'm weak.

I try to struggle back to my knees when he takes a break, but I can't seem to find the energy or will to do it. I don't fight back, I never do. I don't know why, I guess I've just been broken to obey and not to question it anymore. By the sixth stroke, he's starting to lose his strength behind his swings, which means he was almost done. I feel the relief spread through my body.

But then the belt comes down for the seventh time. The last hit is always the worst; he wants to make a mark with it. Oh and he does. Son of a bitch, I scream this time, biting down on my tongue when I realize that I can't stop myself. That's going to leave a nasty scar. Not all of them broke the skin like last time, but for that number seven was worse than all of them put together.

My back is on fire. I don't remember it being this painful last time, but I guess it didn't last as long then. I can't move, but eventually my father drops the belt by my side and spits down on me. He goes to sit at the kitchen table, opening another bottle of rum and watches me as I slowly fall asleep in disgust.

I fade in and out of sleep, the nightmares rolling through my mind. When I wake up, I can't remember most of them because the pain overwhelms the rest of my senses. I saw Laura once, I think. She was at the top of the stairs. I think she was crying. And my mom passed by once, glancing down at me and saying something like, "Why can't you ever do what you're told?" Her tone was sad.

I don't fully wake up until about 3 am though. There's yelling in the distance that's making my head throb even more. There's a little bit of blood on the floor and my shirt's gone. It's not much, but I'm sure I'll be slaving over it to clean it up in the morning.

I focus in on the voices. I think one of them is my brothers. Yes, Mason's voice. And the other one, I'm pretty sure that's my dad. I drag myself to my feet, pushing down a little nausea and trying to establish some sense of balance. The kitchen. That's where I need to go.

The voices get louder as I approach.

"I couldn't give a shit about what you think! I will be a parent the way I see fit!"

"Dad! You have a problem! Why can't you see that? Look at you you're completely wasted!"

"Don't talk to me like that! You will show me some respect or I'll—"

"You'll what dad? You'll hit me? You'll break me like you have Jerome? Look at yourself. You're pathetic."

"You little!" My dad raised a hand, preparing to bring the back of it down on Mason.

Before he can I stepped in, my eyes complete with malice and catching his hand, standing between him and my little brother.

"Don't you dare touch him."

My dad is shocked for a minute, but soon regains reality on the subject. He pulls his hand roughly out of my grip, looks me straight in the face and says, "I would never hit my own son."

* * *

><p><strong>Ahhhh ok, finally done, this was a really long one, but the ideas kept flowing and flowing. The ending just came to me and I couldn't' wait till next time to include it. Poor Jerome, his dad basically told him he's not his real son anymore Comments? Suggestions? Let me know Oh and also, that disclaimer thing, whatever that is, it's been missing the last couple of chapters, so you know . . . just pretend that it's there. It's implied. I don't know when the next chapter will come, probably not as long as you had to wait for this one, but not too soon :P I'm going to Florida Christmas morning. We're German so we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. That also accounts for some of my dumb spelling mistakes if you ever see them. English is my second language so take it easy on me :P<strong>

**Happy Holidays!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	13. An Intervention

**Emmajfjch****: **Thanks! Haha, I try. Yeah I really want to include Mick as kind of a main character in this but the problem is that Jerome's going back to school and Mick won't be joining him :/ so we'll see.

**NJ7009**: Thanks so much :D This is the first story I've written that's actually gotten such positive feedback so I'm pretty psyched about it.

**DammitimmaD**: He definitely does!

**DangerIsNotMyMiddleName**: First of all, you're nickname's really cool. Thank you so much. I feel the same way which is basically one of the reasons for my attempting to write this story. Thanks, I try :D

**z3stygurl97**: Haha thanks so much! Yeah I know there's bound to be spelling and grammatical mistakes. I rake everything over just once so I hope it's not too horrible. I'm terribly hypocritical because it annoys me to my wits end when I see other published stories with spelling and grammatical error :P

**Anjelina-HouseofUnnaturalPrep**: Done!

**izzi08**: Thanks! Yeah, I think one of the only things I'm good at through writing is hatred and anger and such. Yeah, lots of energy! But the season's almost over since championships are next week and then all we have or states and state opens and all the fun stuff that I won't be qualifying for!

**Anonymous**: I'm trying to answer everyone and I'm just going in order of the reviews that I've got so thank you! Every review counts :D

**metai12**: Thank you so much My main goal here is to make this as uncliché as humanly possible so I'm hoping that's what I'm getting across to you guys.

**The kid**: Done :D

**Puppy**: I'm glad you liked it

**Lovelife**: Thanks :D I came up with the ending last minute and realized how greatly it would fit in and leave a cliff hanger at the end. I'm glad it left a good impression.

**Number 1 Muse Fan**: Don't be sad! )) I've updated now . . . finally!

**Rms12**: Thank you so much!

**weaselette01****: **I do enjoy cookies . . . and bribery. Sounds like a deal haha, I'm really glad you liked it. I'm making it my goal to finish this story no matter what so keep your hopes up, I know I'm a slow updater!

**The anonymous reviewer:** Again, so glad all of you are enjoying the story and the ending to last chapter. Yeah, it's basically this last, worst move his dad has made so far. Trying to dig deep into Jerome's emotions instead of focusing on how his dad's hurting him physically. He's still human and I want readers to remember that since his character doesn't seem like it :P

**Innocenceinstinct**: No worries :P I'm just incredibly good at procrastinating. It's a gift, I know.

**Rms12**: Definitely still updating no worries!

**Agnes:** I don't really like cherries, but since you asked nicely I guess I will haha

**Anxious**: All the anxiety! It's overwhelming! No worries, here's that chapter :D

**Anonymous**: . . . It's been two months. But here's the chapter!

**WOW! Alright you guys are the best, these are definitely the most reviews I've gotten for a single chapter so far. ***Before I go on with the next chapter I want to ask you guys in your next reviews to leave me a couple suggestions with what you like the best*****

**First of all, should Rufus come back into this as an antagonist or should I save my breath and leave him out because he'll just complicate things? Also if he stays should he be the person to spill Jerome's secret?**

**Second: Who should be the person to reveal Jerome's secret to the rest of the group? Fabien or Mara? I personally wanted Fabien, but you guys are the audience so I would at least like to know your opinion.**

**Mick. Aghhhh. What to do with Mick. Bring him back and have him complicate things with Mara, or help solve the problem, or just eliminate him completely and maybe have Jerome run into him at the end once everything is resolved.**

**And finally, Laura and Mason. Honestly I have no idea what to do with them. At this point it looks as if the ending is going to be a half-ass resolution where nothing really gets fixed but Jerome realizes he doesn't need his parents to be happy. Yada yada, happy mushy gooey lovey crap.**

**Opinions? Please let me know.**

**I'm doing this a little bit differently this time and not writing it all at once. Spacing the writing out more over time. Maybe that'll make it less filled with error. But I doubt it.**

**Alright on with the angst!**

Everyday starts the same when I'm at home. I wake up. It takes me forever to even grasp the pain. And finally I drag myself up and continue on with my useless life. Today was different. Sort of.

I couldn't find the strength to go back to bed after what just happened. After my dad stalked off I felt oddly empty inside. As if I deeply cared what he thought of me. Should I even bother calling him dad? Do I even have the right to? The physical pain I was feeling matched everything on the inside. My heart felt torn. And as much I really didn't want to admit it to myself, I think I'd finally broken. This was finally the last straw, the last piece of my dad's brilliant scheme to make me feel alone and empty. And it worked. Good job, dad. It's been fun while it lasted.

Even my mind harbors dark sarcasm. Deep down I know that can't be healthy. Everything's jumbled up in there anyway, it's never really been a lovely place to visit.

It's silent for what feels like minutes after my dad storms out of the room, leaving the stench of liquor behind like a trail. I want to say something. I want to break the silence, but there's a strained sense of quiet in the air the makes even breathing feel like it's much too loud. I feel awkward with my bare back exposed. It doesn't feel too bad anymore though. The buckle only broke the skin in a couple of places, but honestly I don't need any more scars to make me more self-conscious than I already am. Honestly, I think I have enough problems as it is. My ribs still hurt though. I pray to God none of them are cracked. I don't like getting professional attention. It makes me feel paranoid when they prod you with questions. Maybe I'll ask Trudy to take a look when I get back to the house.

Hesitantly I turn around to look my little brother Mason in the eye. Damn he's gotten tall. He's four years younger than me but I've only got a couple inches on him. It's scary to see him grow up.

"Are you ok?" I ask seriously, searching his gaze for anything that'll give away a clue to what he's thinking. But he's a professional, learned it from the best that revealing anything about yourself is a weakness.

"I could ask you the same thing." He answers, not breaking eye contact with me.

"I'm fine. He didn't touch you did he?" I ask.

Mason runs a hand through his unruly hair. "No he didn't."

And again the awkward silence ensues.

"You can't provoke him like that." I finally say, with a hint of anger and a hint warning in my voice.

"Jerome he beat you until you passed out on the floor!"

"It doesn't matter what he does."

"So you'd rather I'd sit here and say nothing? You'd rather I—" He raises his voice which drips with disbelief.

I cut him off, "Yes." I pause for a minute. "That's exactly what I want you to do. I want you to sit back like Laura and bottle it all up. Do what you're told and don't question anything. It's over for me, but I refuse to sit here while you volunteer to take my place. Make something of your life. Keep mom and dad close because as much as I know neither of us wants to admit this, we need them."

At first he says nothing and stares at the floor, his gaze empty. Defeated, almost. But eventually he comes to meet my gaze again. "Is that why you never fight back?" He asks snidely.

"I do what I do for a lot of reasons, ok?" Again, I pause and sigh, putting my face in my hands. I put a hand on his shoulder and look him straight in the eye. "Listen, go up to your room and don't come back down before morning . . . when he's sober."

After a moment's hesitation he nods and with a last glance back at me, he heads for the stairs.

I feel like putting my fist through a wall. Things were complicated enough when it was just me facing my dad. Now that Mason's bigger, he's more defiant and I have more backs to cover than just mine. Awesome.

I head for the bathroom to get cleaned up. When I look at my back I almost sigh in relief. It's a lot better than I imagined it to be. It's raw and red, but the parts where the skin's been broken doesn't look as deep as it's been in the past. I roughly remove some of the blood that clings to my back and find a fresh shirt to pull over my head.

I decide that the best place for me right now is out of the house so with a last glance back I head down the road to take one circle around the block.

I can't even describe how great it'll be to leave. I miss the house even though I know sometimes I'm not wanted there. They all think I'm heartless. I know I don't act like I have regard for anyone's feelings, but I think the truth is that I just don't feel like putting in the effort. It's so much easier to find the entertainment in other peoples' pain rather than actually care what they think or how they feel. My God, I think I'm having a revelation. Maybe I'm more like my dad than I thought.

It scares me sometimes that I might leave this house and grow up to be just like him. To abandon my children that aren't good enough for me. And to show them physically what it feels like to be unwanted. Is that what I'm meant to become? Him? Is that really want I'm going to let happen to me? I don't see why I should bother stopping it. Maybe I shouldn't even have children. I'll just grow old alone hiding for my life from Rufus. It'll be great.

I sigh in frustration and run a hand through my hair. Yeah, that's a great idea Jerome, why don't you raise a messed up kid that'll end up just like you. A dead end loser who can barely keep the friends he has.

"You look stressed."

I almost jump out of my skin when Mick's voice suddenly pops up behind. I turn around without a moment's hesitation, just to make sure it's really him and my mind isn't just playing tricks on me. "Mick. What are you doing out here?" I say curtly.

"I could ask you the same thing, Clark." He says casually.

"Touché."

The silence lingers in the air.

"You know we should finish that conversation we were having earlier."

"I was done talking." I say gruffly.

"Well I wasn't." He says and pauses as if expecting me to pour my secrets out to him.

I look at him blankly. "Do you really want to stand out here just to hear me lie to you?"

"So you admit you were lying!" He gets excited over the stupidest things.

"Listen. Mick. This is all very complicated ok. There're things I deal with every day that you wouldn't even dream of in you rich fantasy world where you're your parents' angel. So leave it alone."

"Jerome, if you're in trouble then I want to help you. I know we weren't the best of friends in school but—"

I cut him off, "We weren't friends at all."

"_But_ if something's going on then I can't just sit back and watch it happen."

"That's what I do." I mutter under my breath.

I think he could tell I was getting fed up with him so he backed off a little.

I looked at him, "I'm going back tomorrow anyway, alright? Whatever . . . could be going on that you think I need help with will be fine and you can go on living your perfect life." I turn to leave. The sun's going to come up soon and I don't want to be out here when my dad wakes up.

"Be careful, Clark." Mick says in a final effort to make me talk to him.

I stop for a moment where I'm walking to let him know that I've heard him, but start walking again after a seconds pause. I don't need his help. I can fend for myself. I have since I was born.

The walk back to the house doesn't make anything anymore clear to me. Everything's jumbled around in my head. What to do, what to do.

By the time I reach the front door the first specks of sunlight are evident behind the landscape of the suburbs. Mornings are beautiful. When I was little I used to rise out of bed as early as I could just to take a peak and see if I could catch the sun before it got out of bed. I never could, but I still tried with all my might. I figured, maybe the sun has a mother too that throws it out of bed in the morning. But it was always alone. It got up alone, it sat up in the sky alone all day, and it went to bed alone too. And so I decided that if I wanted to make anything out of my life, I had to become just like the sun. Self-reliant and accustomed to loneliness.

I admit sometimes it scared me to think that I might have to do this all on my own. But as I grew older I got more used to the idea that if I wanted anything to get done in my life, I was going to be the one to do it and that the days when I dreamed of someone holding my hand on the first day of school or sympathizing with me when I got hurt would never come.

The house is cold when I walk in. Not only physically, but it's filled with the feeling of emptiness. As if it's too clean and untouched. Almost as if nothing and no one's been here for years. The air's so clean that you choke on it.

I automatically lower my head when I see Laura coming down the steps in her bathrobe. She's not even dressed yet and the look on her face resembles concern. She takes a hold of my hand without a word and brings me upstairs to her room. She closes the door behind her and the first thing I see is Mason sitting on her bed. I turn to leave, but she blocks the way out.

"What is this? Some kind of intervention?"

"We just want to talk before you leave today." Laura says, her eyes sparkling with innocence. "Sit." She commands, gesturing to the couch the sits in the corner.

With a sigh I do as I'm told.

"Listen," Laura says, "We just need to clear something up before you leave."

I nod for her to continue.

"We were thinking of asking mom and dad if we could come to Anubis house next year. I think it'd be better if we could all be together as a family again."

I huff, rubbing my eyes. "Don't you guys get it? You're home's here. Your family is here."

Mason sits up a little straighter, "Yeah, but you're not here, Jerome. When we're here, it's like you don't exist. They make it seem like you were never here."

"There's more to this family than just me! I'm fine at school by myself okay? I've made my home there and as rebellious as you guys feel, this isn't your fight."

Mason averted his eyes, "You don't have to go through this alone."

"And what's it going to do if you guys leave?"

Laura spoke up this time, "It'll show them that there are three of us and not just you standing alone. It'll make them see that you're equal to us."

I snort, "You think that just because you two get involved it'll make them pay more attention to me? It's just going to make them mad."

"Come on Jerome!" Laura exclaims, "We're all in this together."

"No we're not. I can take care of myself. And you two are going to stay here and be obedient. Think of your futures! You really think that they'll keep paying for the expensive training camps?" I looked over at Mason who hung his head. "Or that you'll be able to cover you tuition on your own if you try to convince them it's not what you want? You're on the road to amazing lives and I refuse to let you two throw that away for me, understand?"

For once they're silent.

"Good. So it's settled."

I get up and hastily leave the room.

It doesn't take me long to pack my stuff. After all I barely brought anything with me because I knew I wasn't staying long. I'm getting out of this house as soon as possible.

I need to get out of this house. I need to get back home. To my family.

**Alright. Sorry for the super short chapter, I just wanted to get something out before the season ends tomorrow so I have at least something since I didn't update all season. Hope you guys liked it **

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	14. Update

Hello Everyone!

Just giving you all a wee update so no one freaks out on me for not updating :P ap testing is coming up soon and s.a.t.'s as well, so I meant to update this week during break but I went crazy as my overachieving self usually does and studied like mad. So you'll have to wait a little longer. No worries, it'll come.


	15. This is Home

**Hey guys! It's been a while, I know, but for some reason I didn't really anticipate my finals coming right after my ap testing. I'm finally out of school! I've had a pretty busy week though, one of my friends was in the hospital for a while and she was supposed to come home last night so I'm praying that I can visit her today However, I can't be sure of that so I'm kind of nervous, I've been making so many attempts to see her and they've all fallen through. Anyway, so you guys didn't make too many suggestions for me so I still don't really know what I'm going to do.**

****If you don't know what I'm talking about then go to chapter 12 and read through the bold at the top and maybe you can still help me out**

**Also my second round of SAT scores comes back in two days and I'm basically dying. I did really well on the first one, but I didn't feel as good about the second one and I had to take it at a different school and it was kind of awkward. **

**Also, there were too many reviews this time because there were so many for chapter 12 and then my update that I honestly just can't answer them all. So I'll start answering to reviews next chapter, it's not like many of you read what I say anyway :P**

**OK! But without further rambling, here's the chapter. Sorry I have a lot of feelings.**

It's been days. And I'm finally getting out of this place.

Dad left. I'm not sure where he went, but I'm sure of one thing, and that's that he won't be coming home to say goodbye. I don't entirely understand why he's being so bitter. Usually when a boy stands up to his father to stop him from hitting his younger sibling he gets rewarded. I deserve a fucking medal.

Laura's packing the car. I don't understand how one person could own this much stuff. I mean, I know Amber's bad, but this is just ridiculous.

I pick up the small duffel of things I brought with me from the house and head out the door. It's time to get out of this hellhole.

My mom's waiting in the kitchen and she gives me a solemn look as she sees that I'm leaving. Sometimes I wonder if she ever regrets this decision about sending me away for school unlike my dad. Or I guess that's what I sometimes tell myself to make me feel better. I imagine she would have been a really good mom if she wanted to be.

She puts down the towel she's washing the dishes with and looks over at me.

"You've got everything packed?" Her voice is surprisingly caring.

"All of the 5 things I brought."

There's another short pause before she sighs and walks towards me. She pulls up my shirt a little to get a look at my back.

"This could get infected. You really should let me take a look at it."

I look back at her, confused out of my mind at what she's telling me. "Are you suddenly a doctor now?"

She makes eye contact with me. "You'd be surprised. Just let me take a look."

I keep still and don't break eye contact for while, but eventually I relax and turn to face her. "Fine, if you think that's what it takes to make you feel less guilty."

She looks down at the ground, but doesn't answer my accusation. Instead she leads me to the bathroom. She sits me down on the side of the tub with my legs in it and tears apart the drawers, setting aside some bandages, a towel, and some ointment. She puts a cold hand on my back, making me flinch.

"Sorry," She says quietly. She wets the towel and the sink with warm water and begins to go to work. After a minute she works on the deepest gash on my back.

Instinctively I flinch again. "Watch it," I hiss as I whip around to looks at how she's torturing me.

Her eyes meet mine, "Do you want my help or not?"

"It's not like I asked for it."

"Well then you don't have a much choice in the matter do you? Sit still."

I turn back around, sighing in annoyance. When did she get the right to care about me? When has she ever even bothered to care about me? I bite my tongue. She actually cares, why spoil it now.

Before long the door opens and Laura sticks her head in. "What are you guys up to?"

"I'm just trying to help." My mom says.

She freezes for a second and then steps into the bathroom, "Mason's trying to get all his stuff packed away, you should help him before he destroys his room again."

"I'm busy right now."

"I can handle this."

"Let me just—"

Laura cuts her off quickly, "Mom. I can do it. Just go."

My mom looks submissive somehow. I knew that she would never question my dad, but now even my sister had almost total control over her. She leaves without a word and hands that wet towel to my sister.

Laura kneels on the floor and begins to work on my back again. "She was right by taking a look at this though. It might have gotten infected."

"So everyone keeps telling me."

She wrapped my back tightly before pulling my shirt down over it. "We're leaving in five minutes so you should get going."

I follow her out of the room and retrieve the stuff that I had left by the stairs.

I stuff my things in the trunk and look back at the house. It takes only a few seconds of a steady stare for me to see Mason stride out of the door to meet me.

"So you're leaving then?"

"Yeah, I'm heading back to school."

He glances away, the sun blinding him slightly, "You know we're probably not going to see each other for a while."

"What else is new?"

He hesitates for a moment before saying, "I thought about what you said."

"What do you mean?"

"That we need mom and dad. That I shouldn't offer myself up to take you place."

"Yeah?"

"I get it." He says, pausing to look back at the house, "And I'll follow your advice. But just because I trust you on this." He smirks.

I laugh and say, "You better listen to me Mason, big brother knows best."

"I'll see you again soon; I'll drive out to visit you if I have to when I get my license, like Laura."

I smile, "Yeah maybe when you're old enough baby brother?"

"Baby brother," He echoes. He's not such a baby anymore.

I put out a hand, "I'll see you soon, alright?"

He looks at my hand for a moment, then pulls me into a hug, "Yeah Jer, I'll see you around."

I pull away and put a hand on his shoulder, "Take care of yourself, yeah? And look after Laura, make sure the both of you stay well out of trouble."

"Yeah Jerome, I'll do that."

"Good man," I say, clapping him on the shoulder and opening the door to the driver's seat of my sister's car. As I adjust the seat to accommodate my long legs Laura finally makes her way into the car.

"You excited to go back?" She asks, trying to make conversation.

"You have no idea," I say as I shift in the seat and turn the key in the ignition. As soon as the engine roars to life I back the car out of the driveway and hit the gas.

We're silent for most of the ride back, with a few side conversations here and there. Laura and I have talked more this past week than I think we have in our entire lives. In some ways I think we're almost sick of each other by now.

On top of this, neither of us seems to be so great at goodbyes. In fact, she's even reluctant to get out of the car to give me a hug. It seems as she just wanted to climb over to the driver's seat and speed off before we could have to have a confrontation.

However, she does manage to make her way around the car and over to me.

"So I guess this is goodbye." Her innocent eyes make contact with mine.

I pause, "For now." I smile slightly.

She smiles back, "Maybe next time you can come visit me at my school."

"It's probably a hundred times better than the visit you took here."

She laughs. It's a sweet laugh. And carefree. Like it belongs to someone that's completely happy. Like we have no worries in the world anymore. It makes me feel safer. As if she'll be ok even if I'm not there to protect her.

She opens her arms to pull me into a hug. As she pulls away she seems almost sad to do so.

"Until next time, Jerome."

"Yeah Laura, it won't be as long this time, I promise."

She smiles and rubs my shoulder before climbing back into the car. I see her out of the driveway before I pick up my bag and make my way back to the house.

P.O.V Mara

School got out a couple hours ago. And still I'm waiting. Pacing around the house. Jerome's supposed to be coming home today. I shouldn't be pacing and worrying about him this much, or at least I usually wouldn't be, but somehow everything I feel for him has just escalated and escalated with my not seeing him since I basically found out he loved me, and that I'm pretty sure I love him back.

My heart nearly skips a beat when the doorknob to the front door clicks and turns. I eagerly wait on the other side until a finally see Jerome emerge, his old bag slung over his shoulder. For a moment I have the urge to jump into his arms, but my heart sinks when I see the marking on his face. That's not the one that he'd had before he left, it's on the wrong side.

Instantly I'm enveloped with guilt. What if when he called me that night he actually wanted to ask for help. I hadn't listened. I hadn't talked to him. I had been too tired. But I could have. Maybe I could have helped him.

I try desperately to put a smile back on my face as I walk towards him and he wraps me in his arms. _God how I've missed him._

He kisses my head and pulls away smiling. "Missed me?" He asked, turning on the charm.

"Every day." I say, smiling up at him.

He backs up a little, dropping his bag on the floor, "Where is everyone?" He asks as he makes his way for the living room and the kitchen, looking for his housemates.

"Oh they're around. Trudy had to run out to do something for Mr. Sweet, Victor's in his office, Alfie's chasing Amber around somewhere, and I think Fabien and Nina should still be upstairs studying." I make air quotes with my fingers when I say the word studying. We all know that they're basically an item. "And I think Patricia went back to the school for something."

He nods and looks down at me, "And you waited for me to get home?"

"So it seems."

"You're too sweet. Knowing what was back here waiting for me almost made home seem . . . bearable."

The smile drops a little from my face. "Actually Jerome, I meant to talk to you about that. You know-."

I don't get a chance to finish because at that very second Alfie barges in, following Amber like some kind of puppy dog.

"Hey buddy!" He says as he sees Jerome standing there and runs to give his best friends a hug. These two always had some kind of weird bromance going on.

"So how was the first time being home in years?" Alfie asks Jerome instantly.

Jerome hesitates for a moment. "Different."

"That's it? Just different?"

"Yeah nothing really exciting happened to be honest."

Alfie chuckled a little, "You and your old man get a long? He was really uptight when he came here."

"Yeah we had some fights here and there, but I think he was happy to have me home."

"Good," Alfie says grinning, clapping Jerome on the shoulder. He flinches slightly, but I'm the only one who seems to notice.

Amber clears her throat, "Alfie this is really touching and all, but did I mention that these bags are really heavy."

Alfie jumps up, "Oh right!" He grabs the shopping bags that he had dropped when he came in and hurries up the stairs as Amber follows him.

I turn again, "Jerome can we just talk-."

Again I'm cut off, this time by Trudy.

"Jerome!" She goes up and gives him a hug, "Oh dear, I'm so glad your back. I planned a big feast for your homecoming." She smiles and heads for the kitchen.

That woman is so sweet.

"Yeah right so Jerome, like I was saying," I try one more time.

"You know what Mara, can this wait till tomorrow? I've had a long week and I'm really just looking forward to taking a quick shower before dinner's ready."

I let my shoulder sag, defeated. "Yeah that's fine, I'll see you at dinner."

"Sure thing." He says and kisses the top of my head again.

I only have time to collect my thoughts for a few moments before I hear light footsteps come down the stairs. I look over to see none other than Fabian looking down at me.

"Was that Jerome? Is he back already?"

"Um yeah he just got here."

"Good, I really think I need to talk to him now."

He starts to skip down the stairs but when he tries to get down the hallway I put a hand on his chest and stop him.

"Fabian, we agreed."

"And you also said we were going to do something, but I don't see you coming up with any brilliant plans lately." He's starting to get angry and impatient.

"He needs time! If he won't tell us on his own then we can't just go snooping into his life and doing things that he probably doesn't even want."

Fabian lowers his voice and looks me dead in the eye. "Mara, what kid doesn't want to be saved from abuse? Honestly. Who would want to go through this?"

"But he hasn't asked for our help!"

"He just doesn't know how. So we need to do it for him."

"That's ridiculous."

"What's ridiculous?" Jerome appeared suddenly, running a hand through his wet hair.

"Nothing!" I say a little too quickly. "You know what we should go see how Trudy's doing with dinner! I'm thinking about helping her a little."

Everyone seems to have gathered in the living room in the mean time as I drag Jerome in, leaving a fuming Fabian out in the hallway.

They all greet Jerome half heartedly as we join them on the couch.

"So how was your visit home?" Nina asks.

"Fine," Jerome says with a smile, "Although the food wasn't nearly as good as what we get here."

Everyone laughs.

"Yeah, and the funniest thing was my parents had guest over one night, and it was Mick with his folks. I didn't even know our parents knew each other."

Patricia looked surprised, "No way! How's he doing? Did he say how he likes the new school?"

"Yeah he said he loved it. He seemed really happy."

My heart sank a little. I think deep down I had hoped that Mick was at least somewhat miserable about our break up. I mean, I suppose I'd gotten over it fast enough, but I thought he might have realized how good he had had it. I guess I was wrong. I kick myself mentally for thinking something so selfish. I'm goody-goody Mara, I'm not allowed to be selfish. It would be completely out of character.

We all somewhat tune out the phone ringing and go on with our conversation.

Trudy comes in a minute later, holding a dish towel.

"Jerome, your dad's on the phone."

I can see him freeze up slightly, a slight look of fear crosses his gaze for just a second until he blinks it away.

"Thanks Trudy." He gets up to go to the hall.

**Finally done Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Sorry if it's a little rambly. I really am having a hard time finding muse, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging because after I go to New York for a week tomorrow I leave for Germany until July 28****th**** or so and I won't have time to write there, so it's probably going to be a long time. I'll try to get some of it done over the next week so maybe I can upload that when I come home, but no promises. Thanks for being so patient!**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


	16. Eavesdropping

**Hey guys I know I haven't updated in like forever so I've finally decided to get another chapter done. But here it is regardless!**

**I've been super busy stressing over every little thing so that's why it's taken me too long. I'm planning on either finishing this story really quickly or putting it up for adoption. I'm seriously getting way too old to do this I'm afraid. But I also don't want to leave you guys hanging because basically every writer on fanfiction does that and I find that really shallow soooo…**

**Anyway, here's the story, thanks for reading!**

**Jerome's POV**

My dad's on the phone? This day can't get any more confusing. All my housemates are acting weird around me, my sister and brother are both completely on my side for once, and now my dad's calling to me even though none of my siblings are here.

I pick up the phone with a shaky hand, nervous at what side of my dad I'll find on the other end.

"Hello?"

At first all I hear is sobbing, and then someone trying to catch their breath. "Jerome?"

I feel a lump of surprise forming in my throat as I realize it's my dad's voice. Coupled with a pathetic sobbing. What's going on?

"Dad? Is that you?"

"Jerome! Oh thank God I thought you weren't going to answer." A pause. "Please. Just hear me out."

"Dad what's going on?" I ask skeptically.

"Jerome. Oh God, Jerome. I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't!" He sobs into the other line.

"Dad! Slow down. What happened?"

"It's Mason."

This gets my full attention. I straighten up, clenching the phone in my fist. What happened to my brother? "What did you do?" I ask, fearing the worst. Had he gotten into an accident? Had my dad done something?

"Jerome, I hit him. But I swear I didn't mean to. It was an accident!"

"What?" You've got to be kidding me! I left a few hours ago and already things had gone wrong. I told that stupid kid to be careful! And he promised that he would!

"Oh God Jerome what have I done."

"Well is he alright?"

"Oh right, he's fine! Your mother's tending to him. Just a bruise I promise. I just can't believe this happened."

"Dad, why are you calling?" I couldn't understand why he was calling me to throw a pity party for his guilt even though he's hit me more times than I can count.

"I just . . . I just need to apologize." Another pause. "I . . . Oh God Jerome I'm so sorry. I can't believe I keep losing control like this. I'm a bad father."

"You're not a bad father." My voice is monotone. I don't actually mean it, but I'm hoping that it'll make him stop babbling.

"I am. God I'm so ashamed. I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you dad."

"Really?"

"Yeah, dad. Now please, could you put Mason on?"

This happened several times before. He'd cry and plead for my forgiveness. He'd beg that I wouldn't hold it against him. He'd tell me he was sorry over and over and over again. And then I'd tell him he was forgiven. And then he'd go off and drink away his feelings and all would be forgotten. I'd learned not to expect anything different by the next time that I see him.

"Oh, right, yeah, of course."

There's some shuffling and finally I hear my little brother's voice on the other line. "Jerome?"

"Mason. You idiot. What did you do?"

"Nice to hear from you to big bro."

I sigh loudly in annoyance, rubbing my temple and closing my eyes. I pause for a minute trying to regain my cool. "What happened?"

"Listen Jerome, I know this seems bad, but I swear I didn't provoke him on purpose. He just starting yelling at mom for not backing him up these last couple of days and I didn't want to leave her hanging!"

Again I sigh. As good of a son as he may be for sticking up for his mom, I still can't believe this is happening. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble?"

"Yeah, and I'm trying. I've figured out a way to make this a little easier on all of us."

"What?"

"Well mom and dad think it's best if maybe I come stay with you for the rest of the weekend and then head straight back to training from there. You know let dad blow off some steam. Mom's going to take him out of town on some type vacation trip for a bit. Work's been stressing him out."

I run a hand through my hair. "As great as that sounds Mason, Laura had permission to come. I go to boarding school you know and there are strict rules here. I really don't think Victor's going to be overjoyed about this."

"Don't be ridiculous Jerome, I'd never come to visit without permission. Dad cleared everything with that creepy guy that runs your dorm. You know how chummy those two are."

I groan inwardly. "Fine." Great, another sibling that's going to come and ruin all of the hard work I've put into protecting all my secrets.

Suddenly I turn towards the door, hearing Trudy call to the house that dinner's ready.

I quickly turn back towards the stairs so no one that passes by can see the worry that's etched all over my face. "Listen I've got to go. Dinner's ready. When can I expect you tomorrow?"

"My train leaves midmorning so I'll probably be in by noon."

"Okay. Don't do anything stupid until then."

"Yeah Jer, I promise."

"Good." And I hang up. I put my face into my hands, huffing deeply. Oh my God what is my life coming to. I can't even handle what I've just heard. This can't be happening. I'm the screw up, I'm the moron, and I'm the bad kid, the stupid one, the troublemaker, and whatever else. Okay so I get punished for it. Whatever. Mason's a good kid. He doesn't deserve this. God I need to sit down before I pass out or something.

**Mara's POV**

I know I shouldn't be eavesdropping. I know, gosh, I'm a bad person, but I care too much about Jerome to have his life be this messed up. The second I heard those words come out of Trudy's mouth, my mind filled with worry.

I quickly excuse myself and hurry to the kitchen where I hide myself where neither Jerome nor the others can see me. I try to block out their noisy conversation to I can hear what Jerome's saying to his dad.

His voice is quiet and he's speaking in a hushed tone, but I press my ear closer to the entrance of the door to try and comprehend it.

"Dad what's going on?"

Jerome sounds confused. I hope something didn't happen at home. Jerome finally made it back; I really don't think I could handle him being pulled away from me again. It makes him so unhappy to have to go back there. I honestly think his real home is here.

"Dad! Slow down. What happened?" He listens attentively before exclaiming this into the receiver. He sounds almost panicked now. Should I be worried?

"What did you do?" Now Jerome's voice has a dark tone to it. Almost as if he's threatening his dad.

The last thing I hear is Jerome asking, "What?" And then asking, "Well is he alright?" All of a sudden Alfie's hot breath is on my neck and I almost jump out of my shoes.

"Is the great Mara eavesdropping?"

"Oh my God Alfie don't scare me like that!"

He grins at me and peaks out the door. "So what scandalous gossip does Jerome have to say from home?"

I let out a sigh, "Nothing." I pause to think over what I should say next, "I can't even really hear him. I'm just curious is all."

"Right," Alfie says skeptically, but flashes a signature Alfie smile at me again anyway.

We stand there just long enough for Trudy to call us for dinner and Jerome hangs up anyway.

I join the others at the dinner table, eyeing Jerome as he takes his seat. I barely noticed the new bruise on his face until the light shines on it like it does now. I don't think that's the same one he left with. This can only mean one thing.

Alfie looks at Jerome as he shovels food onto his plate. "So Jerome, what was that phone call about?"

Jerome froze for a minute, "Um, my brother's coming to visit."

We all collectively say, "What?"

Alfie looks up suddenly in surprise, "You have a brother too?" He sits back in his chair looking almost betrayed. "Is there anything else you haven't told me? Like that your mom's the queen or something."

Jerome smirks, "Not exactly."

The rest of dinner is mostly silent. Everyone shares secretive glances with each other except me. Now that Mick's gone maybe I am really alone.

**Jerome's POV**

I really can't completely fathom what's going on here, but my head and my heart are pounding. I just want to go to sleep and forget about this.

I excuse myself after dinner to my room. Surprisingly Alfie doesn't follow. I'm too tired and I ache too much to even give in to the insomnia tonight. I'm just happy to be home.

**The Next Day**

I wake up sore and my back stinging slightly. No one else seems to be up yet although it's pretty late on a Saturday morning.

I drag myself to the bathroom only to be dismayed because some blood has come through the bandages on my back. I don't have the energy or the flexibility to change the wraps myself so I pull a clean shirt over it and silently pray that it'll hold together long enough before Mason gets here to help me change it.

The time until noon passes slowly enough. I stay out of everyone else's hair as well as I can until midday arrives.

Even though I'm waiting for him to come, I still jump when I hear the door bell ring.

I answer the door quickly before the rest of the house has a chance to gather around me, sticking their noses in my business like always. I swing open the door to see a grin taking over my little brother's face. And then my heart drops into my feet when I see the bruise on his face.

I come towards him, grabbing his face with my hand and turning it so I can see the ugly mark that covers his cheek bone.

"Jerome it's not a big deal." He says, trying to squirm away from my grip but I'm unrelenting.

"Oh my God what did he do to you?"

"I'm fine."

I back up and finally pull him into a crushing hug. "I'm so sorry. I should have been there to protect you."

"This isn't your fault."

I pull away suddenly when I hear foot steps behind me. The house is slowly starting to form around us.

Alfie laughs, "So I guess it's not just Jerome who 'rough houses' huh?" He says pointing to his cheek, mirroring my brother's bruise.

Mason grins, "Hey, I'm Mason."

Alfie nods, not breaking his signature smile, "Yeah that brother that Jerome never told us about."

Mason awkwardly backs up taking in the rest of the house as the introduce themselves. I stand by awkwardly not knowing what to say. This is going to be a long weekend.

Before lunch I heard my little brother away from everyone else and into my room. I then sit on my bed with my head in my hands. I don't want to be mad at him. I guess it's not technically his fault, but honestly I just can't help it.

"Jerome—" He says advancing towards me. His voice sounds almost desperate.

I hold up a hand and cut him off, "Don't."

**Fabian's POV**

I only get to take a brief look at Jerome's brother before he drags him off again. Why is this kid so secretive all the time? And the bruise on his brother's cheek: could it be that he's a target for his dad too? I feel so helpless. I'm supposed to be the problem solver.

Before I know it Mara's latched onto my arm and is dragging me to my room. She quietly shuts the door.

"Mara . . ." I begin. I'm not really sure what's going on here.

She puts a finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet, and sits on my bed pressing her ear to the wall. Is goody-goody Mara eavesdropping?

Ah what the hell. I join her, too curious to pass up on the opportunity. At first the voices are muffled, but I shift my position to be able to hear well. They were talking in a hushed whisper. That probably meant it was supposed to be a private conversation . . . oh well.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing." That must be Mason because I don't recognize his voice.

"Out of nothing? Look at your face!" Jerome hisses angrily.

"It could have been worse!"

"Really? Tell me how this could be much worse? He hit you so hard that he made a mark."

"Oh I don't know. Maybe he could have opened up my back with his belt. Or broken some ribs. I really think I got pretty lucky."

"Don't you dare compare yourself to me."

What?! Did I just hear that correctly? Jerome's dad had broken his bones and used a belt on him. I can't even believe what I'm hearing. I live in this safe universe with two loving parents and the kid that I thought was genuinely a bad person actually has to go through this living hell. I suddenly feel extremely guilty. This whole time we've been coming down really hard on Jerome for this whole Rufus business and everyone in the world thinks he's the empty shell of person that doesn't even really feel things. But in reality he's only that way because someone's beating it into him. No wonder it seems as though he has no feelings.

My thoughts are interrupted as their conversation continues.

"Listen Jerome," Mason says, "I know you told me to be careful. But trust me this is a onetime thing. He felt terrible about it and I'm leaving for training camp again soon anyway. It's not like we even see each other that often."

Jerome groans in anger, "You don't know him like I do, okay? He apologizes to you and begs for your fucking forgiveness and you think everything's alright. And then you see him the next time expecting w arm welcome, but there's this look in his eyes like he doesn't remember shit of what he said to you. And then he goes and does it again and again and it becomes this loop. What if this isn't a onetime thing? What if you end up like me? I can't deal with that, Mason. I really can't"

For a moment his brother's speechless, taking in everything Jerome had just poured out into the open. Something he'd probably been bottling up for a long time. "I can take care of myself, Jer." He says quietly. He sounds defeated. Maybe even guilty.

"That's just it. You shouldn't have to." Jerome's voice is softer now. He sounds like he's trying to be a parent but doesn't know exactly what to say. "You're just a kid, Mason. I should be there to take care of you and make sure shit like this doesn't happen. I'm the oldest. This is supposed to be my job."

"Is that really what you think? Jerome, you can't carry a burden like that on your shoulders."

"It's my job," Jerome reaffirms, "And I'm going to make sure he never touches you again."

"And how are you planning on doing that from all the way out here."

"I don't know. But I will. That's a promise."

There's a pause. "You're not going to do what I think you're going to do are you?" Mason sounds almost shocked and somewhat scared. "It's suicide."

"I'll do what I have to."

"So what, you're deliberately going to make him mad so that he comes after you and not us? So that he remembers what good kids we are. That's insane."

"I'll do what I have to. You should be thankful." He sounds angry again. Sometimes he really scares me.

There was silence for a little bit and then Jerome speaks up again. He's calmed down, finally. Hopefully for good this time."Come on let's get some lunch and we'll try to forget all about this mess."

I start to pull away from the wall and all of a sudden Nina stands in the doorway, a shocked look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. She eyes both Mara and I sitting on my bed, looking rather suspicious.

"What's going on here?"

**Finally done! Thanks for all the readers that have stuck with me this far. I know it's been months. I just procrastinate a lot and am very lazy. Thanks for reading! I combed through it once for spelling error, but I also added a ton of stuff so I hope it's still okay. Also I'm sorry for the lack of any sophistication in my writing whatsoever this time. It was late when I wrote this and I really didn't put that much effort into it.**

**R&R**

**XsoulessXgingerX**


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